Dear supporters,
I would like to share with you MP Louis Ng's heartening Facebook post yesterday, reproduced below:
[ Going CRAZY about secondhand smoke? ]
I’m going to speak up and file a motion in Parliament next month and fight hard to protect us from secondhand smoke.
It’s crazy that some of us are affected by secondhand smoke in our own homes. The smoke comes from our neighbours.
And it’s crazy because the secondhand smoke could kill you. One person in SINGAPORE dies everyday due to secondhand smoke (based on 383 deaths in 2016).
Is the solution a ban on smoking in HDB flats? I don’t think so and we can find a middle ground. We must respect the rights of smokers but at the same time protect the health of non-smokers.
I want to hear from YOU. What do you think? Have you been affected by secondhand smoke? Comment and share your stories, views and suggestions and I will speak up for you.
Help "Share" and spread the word :) Thank you everyone for speaking up and playing an active role in shaping our policies ❤️
Please visit Mr Ng's Facebook and leave your suggestions there.
Also, may I urge fellow non-smokers impacted by secondhand smoke to do the following:
1. Do not suffer in silence.
2. Speak to your smoking neighbours first about how their smoke has been affecting your family's health, both physically and mentally. Constantly rushing to close windows when smoke wafts in causes great distress. As to cigarette butts and/or ashes landing on washed laundry or burning holes in them, ask them how they would like to be at the receiving end? You may wish to inform them that w.e.f. Jan 1 2020, anyone who throws away lighted material, such as a cigarette butt, that causes a fire could be jailed for up to seven years.
3. Write to the newspapers (ST Forum, TODAY Voices) in response to articles on smoking, like the recent one in ST on Aug 30 and around World No Tobacco Day on May 31.
4. Send feedback to your MPs, report to HDB and NEA (via OneService app) about any flouting of smoking bans, cigarette butt littering (high rise or otherwise). Number of reports are tracked monthly. Increasing number of complaints signifies severity of problem and is likely to prompt action from the authorities. Attached is a photo of rampant cigarette butt/pack littering in front of Oxley Tower reported to NEA last year.
5. If communication with smoking neighbours fails to improve the situation, apply for mediation via CMC here: https://cmc.mlaw.gov.sg/ Letters are sent FOC to both you and smoker neighbour to attend mediation. You the applicant pay $5 if both agree to proceed with mediation. CMC cases are tracked monthly, so more cases will attract the attention and further action from the authorities.
Because there is no NGO to advocate for protection against secondhand smoke exposure in Singapore, unlike in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, US, Europe etc, we need to be our own advocates if we want to safeguard our precious health. Thank you!