A Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) has called for a ban on residents smoking near windows or on the balconies of their homes in Singapore to minimise the effects of second-hand smoke on neighbours.

Louis Ng, MP for Nee Soon GRC, chairs the GPC for Sustainability and the Environment.

Ban smoking at near windows at home

NG told Parliament during his adjournment motion speech on Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, that 383 people in Singapore died due to second-hand smoke in 2016, or "about one person dying every day".

The GPC supports a ban on residents in Housing Board flats and private apartments, which Ng proposed in his speech.

Residents' woes with second-hand smoke

Ng said residents have shared their experiences with him regarding second-hand smoke.

These residents have tried ways to stop second-hand smoke from entering their homes, but to no avail.

One case he heard was more than a nuisance: A baby with lung infection kept coming into contact with second-hand smoke from a neighbour's home.

What ban is proposing

The GPC's proposed ban will empower National Environment Agency officers to enforce what is currently an advisory for residents not to smoke near windows and on balconies, Ng added.

While it might appear as an intrusive regulatory approach, Ng said there are already laws in place, such as those against nudity at home if others can see it, to curb people's behaviour at home.

Second-hand smoke problem worsening

The problem of second-hand smoke has worsened over the years, Ng emphasised.

In the first four months of this year, the National Environment Agency (NEA) received 11,400 complaints related to smoking.

This marked a 20 per cent increase from 2019, Ng said.

The increase, he added, was largely due to people smoking in or near homes.

With more people working from home due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of cigarette-smoke disputes escalated to the Community Mediation Centre has quadrupled.

In a typical month, it used to be two cases.

It is now eight cases, Ng said.

Approaching authorities ineffective

Ng also said those who approached the authorities for help and sought mediation have found it ineffective in dealing with the second-hand smoke problem.

Ng said the limits lie with the lack of relevant enforceable action.

"Even when MPs want to help, they cannot seek help from law enforcement because there is no relevant law or regulation to enforce," Ng said.

Response to Ng's suggestion

In response to Ng, Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Amy Khor said there would be significant practical challenges in enforcement.

She said enforcement within one's home will "exacerbate existing concerns" about "infringing the owner's rights to his or her own private space".

Khor also provided statistics to show the small percentage of complaints of smoking in homes.

Out of the 11,400 smoking complaints received in the first four months of 2020, a total of 320 of the complaints involved smoking in homes.

In contrast, 6,310 were related to smoking in common areas such as staircases, corridors and void decks.

MSE, Khor said, will instead adopt a three-pronged approach.

This would work towards entrenching new social norms and greater social responsibility, examine more ways to facilitate productive conversations between neighbours, and lastly, work with agencies to study how such disputes can be better addressed by the inter-agency community dispute management framework.

Background

An adjournment motion allows an MP to speak on a subject for 20 minutes at the end of the sitting.

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