When two Members of Parliament suggested to ban smoking in HDB flats, the Internet went ballistic.

Some Singaporeans felt they were powerless in stopping their neighbours' second-hand smoke from wafting into their homes.

While others felt that banning smoking in one's own home was a little too heavy-handed.

So what can you do if you have a neighbour who loves sharing his secondhand smoke with you?

1) Complain to HDB, and go to the Community Mediation Centre with your smoking neighbour

Nee Soon MP Lee Bee Wah filed a written Parliamentary question asking Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong to provide figures regarding disputes arising between neighbours due to cigarette smoke.

In a written reply, Wong said that in 2017, the Housing & Development Board (HDB) received 3,493 "instances of feedback regarding disputes between neighbours".

He further elaborated that 216 cases (6 per cent of them) were related to smoking.

He added that in 2017, 24 cases involving cigarette smoke were registered with the Community Mediation Centre (CMC); two cases proceeded to mediation and both were successfully mediated.

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2) And if you don't want mediation...

While Wong advised that it was "best such disputes to be settled informally between the parties involved", he provided an alternative for cases where parties were unable to resolve their disputes.

He said that for intractable cases, the aggrieved parties can file a case with the Community Disputes Resolutions Tribunals (CDRT) as a "last resort."

He shared that the CDRT judge can "order parties to attend mandatory mediation in the Courts or at the CMC, to attend counselling, or to fix the case for hearing by the Courts."

Interestingly, Wong said that there were no cigarette smoke-related cases filed with CDRT in 2017.

And what exactly is the CDRT?

According to the State Court's website:

The Community Disputes Resolution Act (CDRA) creates a new statutory tort of interfering with the enjoyment or use of places of residence. The underlying principle is that no person should cause unreasonable interference with his neighbour's enjoyment or use of that neighbour's place of residence.

The CDRA also establishes the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunal (CDRT) as part of the State Courts to hear cases under the CDRA.

Filling your neighbour's house up with secondhand smoke could be an unreasonable interference with his/her enjoyment.

You can apply with the courts for an injunction to stop your neighbour from smoking, provided you have the necessary proof that your neighbour is indeed a chimney.

Top image by Irina Kostenich