PAP MP Louis Ng is still concerned about smoking in one’s own flat

People’s Action Party (PAP) politician Louis Ng still appears to be concerned about the effects of Singapore residents smoking within their own homes.

Earlier, when Parliament passed a bill to amend the Smoking (Prohibition in Certain Places) Act, Ng was among a group of MPs who appealed to the Government to curb smoking in one’s own home.

Presently, smoking inside one’s HDB apartment is allowed while smoking remains strictly prohibited in common corridors, stairwells, staircase landings and void decks, under the Smoking (Prohibition in Certain Places) Act, which is administered by the NEA.

Calling on the Government to do more, especially since second-hand smoke affects others in the family, Ng pointed out in Parliament children of smokers are more susceptible to picking up the habit.

The Nee Soon GRC MP’s appeal was supported by Fengshan MP Cheryl Chan, who said that a mother in her constituency had to keep her windows closed to protect her children from inhaling second-hand smoke from a neighbour who smokes.

Jurong GRC MP Rahayu Mahzam added that “there was little that could be done” other than advising neighbours who smoke to stop smoking at their windows, while Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Chia Shi-Lu, a medical doctor, raised the health risks of inhaling second-hand smoke.

Nee Soon GRC MP Lee Bee Wah also highlighted that conflicts between neighbours over smoking are “increasingly on the rise,” as she registered her disappointment with the fact that “residential homes remain out of the authorities’ regulation when it comes to smoking.”

Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor ultimately noted in Parliament that “Not everyone will support the view that the Government should intrude into one’s private space when it comes to smoking.”

Despite this, Louis Ng remains concerned. He has filed the following question pertaining to smoking within one’s own home, to ask Health Minister Gan Kim Yong when Parliament convenes on Monday:

“To ask the Minister for Health whether the Ministry is aware of any air filters available in the market which have been proven to effectively filter out the harmful effects of secondhand smoke in private homes.”

Read the other questions that have been filed for Parliament here:

https://theindependent.sg.sg/ministers-set-to-be-questioned-on-recent-saf-training-accidents-and-impending-sale-of-kopitiam-to-ntuc-enterprise/

https://theindependent.sg.sg/both-pap-and-wp-mps-file-over-30-parliamentary-questions-relating-to-the-challenges-hawkers-face-at-sehcs/