Designated
smoking points are making their mark along the Orchard Road
shopping belt, as the area inches towards becoming smoke-free.
Last month,
four white L-shaped markings were painted outside several shopping
malls, demarcating a rectangular zone with a bin in the centre. On
close inspection, the words Designated Smoking Area can be seen in
small print on the side of the bin.
Five
designated smoking areas have been set up along Orchard Road as
part of a government study to observe their usage and effectiveness
in reducing smoking activity in the surrounding areas, said the
National Environment Agency.
Orchard Road
Business Association (Orba) executive director Steven Goh said
having a smoke-free Orchard Road is the association's long-term
vision.
"As a place
manager, we want to continue to make Orchard a pleasurable
environment for all visitors," he added.
"If you look
at Orchard Road, many smokers will congregate around dustbins,
which can be quite unsightly and cause inconvenience to people
passing by."
NO HEALTH WORRIES
As a place
manager, we want to continue to make Orchard a pleasurable
environment for all visitors.
MR STEVEN GOH, executive director of
the Orchard Road Business Association, on the long-term vision of a
smoke-free Orchard Road.
Mr Goh said
Orba had, over the last year or two, also suggested to the
authorities to put smoking points in less-crowded locations - such
as back lanes or alleys between buildings - to reduce second-hand
smoke.
The new
smoking zones add to existing ones already carved out by building
owners at shopping malls and office buildings.
They come even
as Nee Soon South, the first residential estate to erect walled
smoking "sheds", reaches its target of 50 designated smoking
points.
They also
bring Singapore closer to achieving the Government's long-term goal
of prohibiting smoking in all public areas.
Smoking is
already banned at reservoirs and more than 400 parks, and at common
areas like void decks, sheltered walkways and linkways.
Nee Soon GRC
MP Lee Bee Wah, who is chairman of the Government Parliamentary
Committee for the Environment, said the smoking points at Nee Soon
South - which comprises 147 blocks - will be officially launched in
two weeks.
The smoking
points, each measuring 3m by 3m and situated at least 5m from
housing blocks, have received praise from residents living on lower
floors and above coffeeshops, where second-hand smoke was a
problem.
About 85 per
cent to 90 per cent of the smoke from every cigarette ends up as
second-hand smoke, which has at least 400 poisonous chemicals and
can cause respiratory tract infections, heart disease and
cancers.
"It is unfair
that non-smokers have to bear these effects," said Ms Lee.
Frasers
Centrepoint Malls said it has rolled out designated smoking areas
at the majority of its 12 shopping malls.
These areas
are clearly marked out with a yellow box or signage, with bins
provided for the proper disposal of cigarette ash and butts.
A spokesman
said: "This has helped to reduce the number of smokers loitering
around the malls and a reduction in cigarette butts littered. Mall
security officers patrol the mall perimeter to enforce smoking at
designated areas."
City Square
Mall, managed by City Developments, also has a smoking point.
This has
improved cleanliness around the mall, said a mall spokesman.
Smokers whom
The Straits Times spoke to at Orchard Road's new smoking zones said
they noticed these spotsonly two weeks ago.
Some have
complained of inconvenience but Mr Charles Tan, 28, a hairstylist
who was seated at a bench within the zone outside Far East Plaza,
said he will comply with the requirement.
Orba's Mr Goh
said: "If 80 per cent of people don't smoke, then you can't
inconvenience them just for the 20 per cent that do."