Cigarettes are way past the villain era and into the endangered species category. Starting tomorrow, anyone caught smoking at public parks and gardens, reservoirs and beaches may be fined up to SGD$1,000.
The entire list of no-smoking zones has been compiled by the National Environment Agency (NEA), National Parks Board (NParks), the national water agency PUB and Sentosa Development Corporation. and includes spaces like MacRitchie Reservoir, Coney Island Beach and even super specific spots like “The public green at International Business Park (under the JTC)” and “Alexandra Canal Subsidiary Drain “F” (between Boon Tiong Road and Zion Road)”. Wew.
If you’ve seen the tiny yellow boxes around Singapore which are designated smoking areas, you know that smoking has been prohibited in more public spaces since July 1.
The restrictions were first announced but not enforced yet in March but the advisory period ends today.
But there’s also some wiggle room for those truly addicted – the agencies have installed designated smoking areas in 12 regional parks including Palawan Beach, East Coast Park and Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park.
While one problem is being slowly snuffed out, there might be another smoking-related problem on the horizon as vaping numbers are continually on the rise in the past few years.
Last year, 7,593 offenders were caught for importing vaporisers while 4,697 offenders were caught for purchasing, using or having them. A third of them were under 18 years old, below the legal smoking age of 21 in Singapore.
