Fairfield Methodist Primary 4 student allegedly approached to buy vape while on way home from school

Two teenagers allegedly approached a Primary 4 student walking home from school and tried to get him to buy a vape on Jul. 25.

The child declined the offer and walked away, according to Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Rachel Ong, who alerted the community to the incident on her social media account that same day.

It happened in the afternoon near a pedestrian crossing at Dover Rise, just about a five minutes' walk away from the boy's school, Fairfield Methodist School.

The school was informed of the incident and immediately reported it to the authorities, the principal Soh Mei Foong said in response to Mothership's queries.

The students have also been informed of the incident.

They were reminded not to engage with strangers, and to inform trusted adults if they are approached by any stranger or suspicious person.

"As a precautionary measure, the school will monitor activities in the vicinity of the school premises after school," Soh added.

The school has not received further reports of similar incidents as of Jul. 30, Zaobao reported.

Concern from parents

Ong shared that she had learnt what happened from the student's parent.

A parent of a Primary 3 student at the primary school told Lianhe Zaobao that he was shocked and worried for his child's safety.

He had been alerted to the incident through a message in the parents' WhatsApp group chat, which said the vape peddlers had teased the boy when he turned them down.

Another parent of a fellow student told The Straits Times that earlier this year, he had seen notices warning about the dangers of vaping placed in the school's foyer and canteen.

It had surprised him then that there would be concerns about vaping in primary schools.

Following the incident, however, parents have been calling on one another in their chat groups to help look out for strangers and suspicious activities around the school, according to ST.

Stronger enforcement

Singapore has seen a rise in vaping cases over the past few years, partly due to the intensified enforcement efforts by the authorities.

In 2024, there were 2,000 reports of students, from primary school to institutes of higher learning, possessing or using vapes, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said in a parliamentary reply.

The figure is a significant increase from 900 cases in 2023, and 800 in 2022.

In response, schools across Singapore have been stepping up vigilance against vaping.

"School personnel are provided with resources on smoking and vaping prevention, and procedures to report smoking and vaping cases to the Health Sciences Authority (HSA)," a Ministry of Education (MOE) spokesperson told ST.

On Jul. 20, Health Minister Ong announced that etomidate, an anaesthetic commonly laced in vape pods, will be listed as a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA).

He said some vapes seized from schools had been tested months prior and not found to contain etomidate.

However, given that one in three of those seized from the public did contain the drug, he added that he "will not assume that etomidate has not made their way to schools".

The public can now report vaping-related offences by calling a daily hotline (6684 2036 or 6684 2037) or submitting a form online, both managed by the HSA.

Top image from MOH & HSA, and Google Maps