Malaysia redraws anti-smoking bill amid concerns over loss of rights
- Bill will be sent to the parliamentary select committee for further scrutiny after health minister agrees there are shortfalls in its text and provisions to be ‘tightened up’
- Lawmakers are divided over issues including enforcement of proposed law, tendency for abuse of power and potential hardship on constituents
Malaysia has returned to the drawing board after an ambitious new bill for a smoke-free future faced strong resistance in parliament and from the public over regulations that would grant officials broad enforcement powers, which critics argue could infringe on civil liberties.
The Tobacco and Smoking Products Control Bill 2022 – more popularly known as the generational endgame to smoking – aims to phase out cigarette smoking as well as vaping by criminalising it for everyone born from 2007 onwards, creating a new generation of smoking-free citizens. It remains legal for those above the threshold age.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin told parliament on Tuesday that the bill would be sent to the parliamentary select committee for further scrutiny – instead of putting it to vote as planned – after agreeing that there are some shortfalls in its text, as well as provisions which need to be “tightened up”.
“When the bill is tabled (again), in good conscience we can agree,” Khairy said.
Some lawmakers vehemently oppose the bill, among them Bintulu MP Tiong King Sing who cited past failures in anti-smoking laws and the hardship such regulations could pose on his mostly rural and poor constituents.
