A Perikatan Nasional parliamentarian has refuted claims of him vaping in the Dewan Rakyat after a photograph of the opposition lawmaker holding a cylindrical object to his mouth went viral on social media.

Tanah Merah MP Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz reportedly clarified that the object in question was a pen.

Ikmal was quoted by FMT as insisting that he "does not smoke, much less vape".

“Everyone knows I’m not a smoker, I can’t even tolerate being around smokers.

“The whole Tanah Merah parliamentary (constituency) knows that I’m not a smoker,” he said.

The image was taken by Sadiq Asyraf – photographer to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim - when PN MPs staged a walkout from the august House on Tuesday (Sept 19) following a protracted argument stemming from a comment Anwar made about Putrajaya MP Radzi Jidin.

Sadiq then uploaded it on X, previously known as Twitter, with the caption, “Really sensitive, (he was) vaping immediately while leaving the Dewan”.

Compoundable offence

Ikmal said he was a strong supporter of former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s Control of Tobacco Product and Smoking Bill 2022.

He also expressed his readiness to provide an explanation on the matter to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul, who said that he will be issuing a letter to the former.

In August 2020, then-foreign minister Hishammuddin Hussein was issued a compound for vaping in the Dewan Rakyat chambers.

However, Hishammuddin did not reveal the quantum of the compound issued by the Health Ministry.

Previous offenders had been compounded up to RM500, and failure to settle the amount could result in an additional RM10,000 fine or two months imprisonment, or both.

Hishammuddin also apologised after a netizen pinpointed him vaping during the Parliament session at that time.

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