CIGARETTE SMOKING BY YOUTHS (Prohibition)

Mr Yeo Choo Kok asked the Minister for Law and the Environment, as cigarette smoking is considered dangerous to health and anti-social, if he will consider introducing legislation to prohibit the smoking of cigarette by youths below a certain age.

The Minister for Law and the Environment (Mr E. W. Barker): Mr Speaker, Sir, to discourage smoking and minimise nuisance to non-smokers in public places, the Government has banned smoking in cinemas, theatres, lifts and buses. The advertisement and promotion of the sale of tobacco and cigarettes over television. newspapers, magazines and in public places has also been banned. Television Singapore frequently warns the old and the young not to smoke away their lives and their money.

While I appreciate the Member's concern for our youth, it is not considered appropriate to introduce legislation to prohibit smoking by the young under a certain age. Apart from the practical difficulties of enforcement, legislation by itself would not be sufficient to discourage the habit. Public health education on the health hazards of smoking and proper parental guidance would be more effective in the long run.