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Bad news for smokers https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/smoking-banned-more-places-beaches-parks-water-sites-2544736 SINGAPORE: From Jul 1, Singapore will ban smoking at three new types of premises, although enforcement will only start in October to give smokers time to adjust. Smoking will be prohibited at all public parks and gardens managed by the National Parks Board (NParks), PUB’s Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters (ABC Waters) sites, and 10 recreational beaches, said the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE), Sentosa Development Corp (SDC) and several statutory boards in a joint release issued on Monday (Mar 7). Together, they cover about 100 sites such as Raffles Place Park, East Coast Beach and Tanjong Beach, joining a list of more than 49,000 places where smoking is banned. These include entertainment outlets, shopping malls, bus stops and common areas in residential buildings. The extension of the smoking prohibition is part of Singapore’s efforts to clamp down on smoking and tackle second-hand tobacco smoke, the authorities said.

http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sg...whole_face.html From Stomp: I just hope there's no one else in the car when he was doing his stunt.

Hi all, Just to inform smokers to beware when you are smoking at the corridor. Yesterday, Town Council (TC) came to my block. At 15th floor, lots of cigarette butts on the floor, TC asked the neighbours who are the culprits. At 3rd floor, lots of cigarette ashes on the floor, TC asked the neighbours who are the smokers. TC also took pictures at the incident scene. Disclaimer: The content is to alert smokers not to scrutinise smokers.

Oral sex virus may surpass smoking as cause of throat cancer by Taurus on Wed 05 Oct, 2011 8:14 am Reuters NEW YORK - Cancer of the back of the mouth and throat is on the rise, primarily because of the spread of a viral infection called human papillomavirus (HPV), researchers report in a new study. Dr Maura Gillison at the Ohio State University and her colleagues studied throat tumour samples collected over a 20-year period and found that the number of people who were diagnosed with HPV-linked oral cancer in 2004 tripled the number in 1988, surging to 72 per cent from about 16 per cent. The type of throat cancer they examined, called oropharyngeal, originates in the back of the tongue, the soft part of the roof of the mouth, the tonsils, or the sides of the throat. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, estimates that HPV-linked oral cancers now afflict 26 out of every million people in the United States, compared to eight out of every million people in 1988. HPV-linked oral cancers strike men more than women, although it is unclear why, Gillison said. By 2020, HPV-linked throat tumours will have become more common than HPV-linked cervical cancer and may even surpass smoking as the leading cause of throat cancers. Previously, tobacco had been the primary cause of oral cancer, and most oral cancer cases were HPV-negative. Gillison's group found that HPV-negative cancers have been cut in half since the 1980s. Researchers suspect this is due to changes in sexual behavior that have helped spread the virus. Related:

Our healthcare cost is inflated by the effects of smoking they dont anything drastic about it BUT they are willing to ban CHEWING GUM .... my favourite past time when travelling the trains Indonesian boy, 8, puffs two cigarette packs a day Posted: 12 March 2012 1900 hrs JAKARTA - An eight-year-old Indonesian boy who smokes two packets of cigarettes a day has highlighted the government's failure to regulate the tobacco industry, the country's Child Protection Commission said Monday. After food, cigarettes account for the second-largest household expenditure in the Southeast Asian country of 240 million people, nearly half of whom still live on less than US$2 a day. But there is no minimum age for buying or smoking cigarettes. "Ilham started smoking when he was four years old... his smoking habit grew day by day and now he can finish smoking two packs of cigarettes a day," the boy's father, a motorcycle taxi driver called Umar, was quoted as saying by state news agency Antara. The boy, who lives in a village in West Java provincial district of Sukabumi, would flare up in a rage and "smash glass windows or anything" if he was not given cigarettes, he added. "He doesn't want to go to school anymore. He spends his whole day smoking and playing." The government has increased excise taxes but prices remain extremely low by international standards, with a pack of 20 costing little more than US$1. Indonesia's Child Protection Commission chairman Arist Merdeka Sirait said the latest case further highlighted the government's failure to regulate the industry. "This is yet another evidence showing the government has been defeated by the tobacco industry," he told AFP. "The growing number of smokers are a result of the industry's aggressive marketing targeting young people." The government makes about US$7 billion a year in excise taxes from the industry, which employs thousands of people on the island of Java. In another case, a two-year-old boy who smoked about 40 cigarettes a day managed to kick the habit after he received intensive specialist care in 2010. According to the World Health Organisation, smoking rates have risen six-fold in Indonesia over the last 40 years. Smoking kills at least 400,000 people in Indonesia every year and another 25,000 die from passive smoking.

Thought I would start a new one here to aviod antagonizing those who do not wish to quit. I promised bro Tigerwoods to check in when I have started my Quit campaign..so here goes. Today is Day 4...still can take it but the urge hit more often in the past 2 days. First 2 days were a breeze....maybe now body in shock? Am thinking of begging for a stick from colleague....but so far so good..haven't gone down that road...

There is always this huge debate on the rights of smokers versus those of non-smoking folks'. So where do you stand? Typical of those arguing their cases are portrayed here: From ST Forum: Smoker's view: http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Online...ory_747947.html Don't use health as a proxy to browbeat smokers socially Published on Dec 23, 2011

This fella smoked in a non-smoking table of the coffee shop. The smoking corner is 10 tables down the row, so no excuse about not knowing. Plenty of empty tables around, so no excuse of no table. Simple plain lazy and bo chup. After smoking one stick, hands conveniently swing to the ground, cigarette butt dropped to floor, shoes stepped on butt to snub it out. Fantastic, skilfully done ... must be doing this all his life ... while it lasts ... It was raining ... so as most people know ... smokers are weak when it's raining ... so out came another cigarette ... still in the non-smoking table of coffee shop NEA officers should hang around more often during raining days. Catch these buggers, fine them big time. Any NEA officers reading this, contact me. I'll take time and be prosecution witness. I will show you which table and coffeeshop so you can match the photo and the facts.

..just go out doors and take a nice whiff..FULL of it.. there you go, your ciggy for the moment.... bloody hazy today

...sooner or later gonna follow Taiwan where they ban smoking in cars too Coffeeshop merchants concerned about NEA's plans to phase out smoking corners By Ng Lian Cheong/Evelyn Choo, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 30 December 2009 1853 hrs Photos 1 of 1 SINGAPORE: Smoking bans implemented in various areas islandwide have proven to be effective. Building on this, the authorities intend to phase out smoking corners in outdoor refreshment areas completely. Public areas like building entrances, playgrounds, and lift lobbies were converted to non-smoking areas early this year and the National Environment Agency has seen a greater compliance to the ban. The number of warnings and tickets issued dropped from about 4,599 in 2008 to 4,186 in 2009. Soon, non-airconditioned food centres could also go totally smoke-free. Currently, 20 per cent of the outdoor refreshment areas is designated for smoking. But members of coffee shop associations - the Foochow Coffee Restaurant and Bar Merchant Association and the Kheng Keow Coffee Merchants Restaurant and Bar-Owners Association - have expressed concern. Hong Poh Hin, first vice chairman, Foochow Coffee, Restaurant & Bar Merchant Association, said: "If 100 per cent banned on smoking, it will affect our business by about 10 over percent. So some of the operators feel that they should have a small space for smokers to smoke." The associations want at least 10 per cent of the space set aside for smoking. Mr Hong added: "90 over percent of the members propose that smoking areas should be retained. We do have a few per cent of members saying that it can be 100 per cent banned. The reason is that it's easier for them to control the place. When smokers know that this is 100 per cent banned, they will not come in." The NEA said it will discuss the matter with stakeholders before coming to a decision. - CNA/vm

....SMOKING ban extended to walking, driving and one other thing.... the reason given is for their safety Smokers...gahmen care for you.....I just caught this on CNA.....when it is in print i post here...

Hi, Was wondering if it is fine to leave the cigarette lighter in the car compartment under the hot sun (whole full day) ? Haha...is it a stupid qs ?? dun flame me please, thanks :) Thank you

smokers! new CIGGY!!

I have just started go cold turkey for almost a week. I read few articles that headaches, running nose and tingling hands/feets may occurred. So far, out of the above expected symptoms, headaches has start take place just only and the other that is not mentioned is, I can't have a proper sleep. As in, I kept wake up in the middle of the night. I did take more coffee lately, but usually i do not "react" to coffee after-affect as in affecting my sleep in the past. do u guys wake up very often in the middle of your sleep? mine at least 6-7 times. What other advises helps? Pls kindly advise. I just want to hear from true life account experiences. Thank you so much.

look like singkapor got new ways to catch all those smokers who are smoking ciggies that did not pay the duties..... extracted from Asiaone.... -------------------------- http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNew...0910-86954.html Starting January 1, 2009, all duty-paid cigarettes sold in Singapore will be legally required to be marked with the letters SDPC, which stands for Singapore Duty Paid Cigarettes. This new marking requirement, which will visibly differentiate duty-paid cigarettes from contraband cigarettes, is in line with Singapore Customs' intensified island-wide operations to curb the peddling and possession of illegal cigarettes. All unmarked cigarettes from January 1, 2009 will then be considered illegal. Each illegal packet of cigarette currently costs the offender $500. Mr Fong Yong Kian, Director-General of Customs, said, 'The availability of cheap duty-unpaid cigarettes will hamper our national effort to discourage smoking. Singapore Customs is committed to keep illegal cigarettes off the streets.' Arriving travellers and returning Singaporeans who have brought in cigarettes from overseas for their own consumption are advised to keep their receipts as proof of payment of duty and GST when checked by Customs officers.

http://www.reuters.com/news/video/videoStory?videoId=52137 http://www.your-lifestore.com/index.php?infoBox=0&cPath=76&osCsid=f1f27065982422887b94ad7b58d43216

THREE men stand in a corner of Orchard Road, absorbed in conversation. Their lips move in sync, but there is no eye contact between them. Instead, they furtively scan the crowd, picking out those who let things slip out of their hands. Once an unsuspecting target tosses a cigarette butt, tissue paper or a disposable cup on the ground and walks away, these National Environment Agency (NEA) enforcement officers move in. The first name to enter their books is a teenager's. The young man, with dyed hair and dressed in jeans and a polo T-shirt, is the only one among his group of five friends to flick his cigarette stub carelessly on the ground. 'I didn't do it,' he protests when the NEA officers confront him. He is given a $200 fine. Feigning ignorance is a common tactic of litterbugs, said NEA inspection manager Michael Chew. Otherwise, they ask to be let off with a warning, giving excuses like they dropped it 'by accident' or they were 'planning to pick it up before leaving', said Mr Chew, who routinely carries out such spot checks. Of the over 20,000 litterbugs nabbed last year, 385 were repeat offenders who paid higher fines and were made to pick up rubbish under the Corrective Work Order scheme. Five other litterbugs caught in the 21/2-hour operation in Orchard Road were also done in by cigarette butts. Among them was Mr Nagappa Balakrishnan, 20, who was fined $350 for littering and spitting at Wheelock Place. The cleaner, who earns $700 a month, clearly felt the pain. He said: 'This is such a big fine, I won't throw things again.' Although most caught red- handed were cooperative, the officers had to call the police when a couple in their 20s refused to show the officers their identification cards. They finally complied after 15 minutes, before the police arrived, and were each handed a $200 fine. Only a select few - the elderly and tourists - were let off with a warning. To curb the littering problem, the NEA sends out officers daily on enforcement assignments which last between four and 12 hours. The agency has a pool of 470 officers for such undercover duties, including 50 from security companies Aetos and Certis Cisco. Mr Chew said they can usually nab up to 20 litterbugs over three hours. 'Singaporeans need to take ownership of their own litter,' said Mr Chew. 'There are so many bins around, so please throw (your litter) into them.' But for those who were caught and fined, none was asked to pick up what he let slip. And none offered to.

Smoking in cars more hazardous than previously thought www.chinaview.cn 2008-01-04 05:56:55 LOS ANGELES, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Smoking inside a vehicle is more dangerous to health than previously thought, health experts said on Thursday. Smoking inside vehicles makes the air 10 times more toxic than the federal government says is hazardous for breathing, said Kimberly Belshe, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency. She was making the remarks in downtown Los Angeles while launching a campaign to ban smoking inside cars. The city of Los Angeles enacted a newly enacted state law unveiled on Thursday, which bans drivers from lighting up in the presence of children. "Our efforts to address the dangers of secondhand smoke in California began over a decade ago," said Belshe. "Today, our state continues to be a leader by ensuring that children and youth traveling in cars are not exposed to secondhand smoke," she said. Under the "Smoke-free Cars with Minors" law, a violation is punishable by a 100-dollar fine. Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke have a greater risk of asthma attacks, ear infections, bronchitis and pneumonia, according to state health officials. Long-term exposure has been linked to heart disease and lung cancer in adults. "Infants and children are especially susceptible to the harmful effects of secondhand smoke," said Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health. "Smoking in a car, or any confined space, increases the level of pollution inhaled by children and adults, thereby increasing the likelihood of suffering from the negative health effects of secondhand smoke." In 1994, smoking was banned in California workplaces. Four years later, smoking was banned in bars. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-01/...ent_7361252.htm