NEWSPAPER REVIEW 2

Title: Smokers edged out of more places

Date: 13 December 2008

The Straits Times page A8

The article talks about the limited areas that smokers are allowed to smoke legally.

It starts of by listing the public places smokers are banned to smoke:

1. Cinemas
2. Theatres
3. Lifts
4. Amusement centres
5. Hospitals, nursing homes
6. Air-conditioned buildings
7. Non-air-conditioned workplaces
8. Markets
9. Underground and multi-storey carparks
10. Lift and hotel lobbies
11. Buses and taxis
12. Banks
13. Queues
14. Indoor sports arena like bowling alleys, gymnasiums and fitness centres
15. Stadiums
16. Swimming pools
17. Bus interchanges
18. Playgrounds and exercise areas
19. Anywhere within five metres from the entrances and exits to buildings
20. Coffee shops and non-air-conditioned food outlets
21. Entertainment outlets

Out of these 21 places, hotel lobbies and carparks will be implemented as illegal smoking areas next year, this will certainly limit the small amount of places that smokers can go. All these will allow the public to be less effected by second-hand smoking.

This is an issue where there is two parties wanting different things that are of contrast, in this case, there is the non-smokers and there is the smokers.

My opinion is that the non-smokers is like the innocent side and smokers who choose to adopt smoking as a habit will need to adhere to the laws and respect non-smokers who should not be suffering from other's habits. So it is right for the government to set aside areas for these two kinds of people, but on the other hand, the smokers could have given the non-smokers too much respect. There will be certainly some mentality of non-smokers to look down on smokers and will avoid them for more reasons other than protecting themselves from secondhand smoke. So it seems that there might be too much or too little of a thing and either side will be at a lost.

Hopefully, there will be lesser people who smoke as there is really no benefits from it in the end, making our country acceptable to all people.

By: Clement