Education no excuse to defer smoking ban — Lo
KUCHING: Sarawak must not make education an excuse to defer the implementation of a smoking ban at all eateries, says United People’s Party ( UPP) advisor George Lo.
He said education and regulation must go hand in hand when it comes to encouraging smokers to kick the habit, which is universally deemed as bad for health.
“I refer to The Borneo Post front page today ( yesterday) quoting a source that encouraging smokers to quit should include education. I fully agree we should do more to educate smokers on the danger of smoking especially the young people to deter them from starting.
“However, education runs parallel with the ban. Education must not be the excuse for Sarawak to delay the long overdue ban on smoking in public eateries,” he said in a statement received here yesterday.
He pointed out that the welfare of non- smokers, who inhaled second- hand smoke, must be at the forefront of the government’s consideration.
As such, Lo said the smoking ban must be imposed and education should also start.
“They are not contingent on each other,” he stressed.
On Thursday, the source told The Borneo Post that “we
I refer to The Borneo Post front page today (yesterday) quoting a source that encouraging smokers to quit should include education. I fully agree we should do more to educate smokers on the danger of smoking especially the young people to deter them from starting.
( Sarawak) need to do more than just through ( enforcing) the law. We must include education as we want Sarawakians to be healthy”.
The smoking ban at all eateries, announced by the Health Ministry last October, came into effect on Jan 1.
However, Sarawak and Sabah have put the enforcement of the new policy on hold.
Both Sarawak and Sabah Cabinets have said they would meet to discuss the matter prior to implementation.
In Sarawak, the Cabinet is expected to convene on the third week of the month, while the Health Department is meeting with stakeholders, including cof fe e shop op er ator s on Wednesday (Jan 9).
George Lo, United People’s Party (UPP) advisor