DESPITE fewer people flouting the smoking ban at coffee shops,
non-smokers are still inhaling second-hand smoke in such places
("Fewer flout smoking ban at coffee shops"; Tuesday).
I was having breakfast at a non-air-conditioned coffee shop
along Casuarina Road one morning when, to my dismay, cigarette
smoke from a client at one table strayed to where my family and I
sat, three to four tables away.
When I informed the shop owner, I was told that the smoker was
sitting at a designated smoking table.
I described the problem of stray smoke to the National
Environment Agency (NEA) and it replied that while it would review
the designated smoking area with the shop owner, the area was in an
ideal location.
Subsequently, NEA indicated that the designated smoking tables
were generally located as far away as possible from non-smoking
tables. However, the designated smoking tables were just next to
the non-smoking tables in this case.
If the no-smoking law is meant to protect the public from
harmful second-hand smoke, allowing designated smoking tables
within coffee shops will not help.
While the law allows designated smoking areas within coffee
shops, it does not mean this is feasible in all coffee shops, as in
the case of those along Casuarina Road.
Gregory Goh
