Smokers should not have rights

COMMENT | It’s World No Tobacco Day today and this reminds me of the smoking ban that the Ministry of Health imposed on all eateries in Malaysia. It’s been five months and what have we seen so far? It’s been nothing but positive feedback, especially from non-smokers.

Okay fine. When I say ‘especially non-smokers’, what I really mean is me. 

I hate smoking with a vengeance. Just because it isn’t illegal doesn’t mean it isn’t bad. Just like unjust laws like the ISA. Just because it is there doesn’t mean that it is right.

This week, the High Court also set a date for the judicial review against the smoking ban to be heard. Seven individuals (who I assume are smokers) filed the review claiming that the ban is going against the Federal Constitution since smoking is not against the law.

They also claimed that the ban does not respect the rights of smokers (there is actually a group called the Smokers’ Rights Club, of which the review is also being filed on behalf of) because smokers should have the right to smoke whenever and wherever they want.

I have to call this b*****t.

Smoking is proven to be a very dangerous and unhealthy activity. Not only is it harmful to the people who are actually smoking, but it affects people who don’t smoke too. 

I am sorry to say that smoking is a choice while breathing is not.

The right of people to breathe clean air trumps the right of a smoker to smoke anytime and anywhere. So the intention of the government to gazette all places in the country as non-smoking areas is a valid intention.

The seven individuals and the Smokers’ Rights Club say that the ban will further ostracise them and exclude them from being a part of normal society. They say that when they are forced to smoke across the road from a mamak restaurant, they are actually being isolated.

Well, that is the exact objective of the smoking ban. The ban is supposed to isolate smokers so much so that smokers will feel that it is disadvantageous for them to be smokers. Over time, this is supposed to create a negative perception of smoking so that people don’t want to be smokers.

The smokers rant, saying that we will become like Singapore, where smokers are treated like dirty people who need to be separated and can only smoke in small yellow boxes on the side of the road. 

Again, I say that that is the exact intention. Smoking is dirty.

The smokers are also saying that if we want to impose a ban, then they need to be provided with more facilities so they can continue smoking such as having more smoking areas and more comfortable ones at that. And again, I say, the intention is to make it harder for smokers to smoke.

Some smokers are even making threats. A few have even told me that the government needs to be careful because smokers make up a big number of voters. So if the ban is still being pursued, then the smokers may just decide to vote for the other side.

To this, I say that they are a bunch of selfish children who are thinking of nothing but themselves. They want to make vital decisions that will affect the whole country and its population, which would include their own friends, family, children and all, just because they want to smoke.

With all this being said, I am not trying to prove that smokers are bad people. Definitely not. I have friends and family who are smokers and they are nice people. But they are decent human beings who know that their smoking is a bad habit that can affect other people.

They don’t fight the ban nor do they even acknowledge that smoking is a good thing. They don’t even promote smoking to anyone because they know that it’s not the right thing to do. I mean, how stupid or delusional does someone have to be to not understand that smoking is bad, right?

So everyone needs to realise that the objective is to make it as difficult as possible for people to smoke, and not to make it easy, because we want to eradicate smoking. So stop whining and complaining that we’re making it difficult, because we are.

Happy No Tobacco Day to all Malaysians!

ZAN AZLEE is a writer, documentary film-maker, journalist and academic. He had waited so long for a change in the system and he is not willing to settle for a half-past-six change. Visit fatbidin.com to view his work.

The views expressed here are those of the authors/contributors and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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