Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Prohibiting Smoking at Areas Bounded by HDBs by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment

Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Prohibiting Smoking at Areas Bounded by HDBs by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment

Mr Murali Pillai: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment whether quadrangles bounded by HDB blocks may be included into the list of places where smoking is prohibited under the Smoking (Prohibition in Certain Places) Regulations given the proximity between these areas and the residential blocks.

Answer:

1 To reduce the public’s exposure to the harmful effects of second-hand tobacco smoke, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has progressively extended the smoking prohibition to cover more than 49,000 places islandwide.

2 My Ministry and NEA will continue to consider further smoking prohibition extensions from time to time. Such extensions have to be carefully considered, as smoking is already prohibited in many places within residential estates such as at void decks, covered walkways, playgrounds and exercise areas. Further extensions may inadvertently push smokers to other areas within residential estates and create disamenities in other parts of neighbourhoods. We encourage smokers to be considerate to others around them.