extracted from ST forums.
Easy for under-18 youths to buy cigarettes
RECENTLY, I encountered a coffee-shop owner selling cigarettes to a
girl who was clearly underaged.
I was studying at a fast-food restaurant with my girlfriend in
Serangoon when a group of teenagers sat at the table next to us.
They were students hoping to be promoted to Secondary 2 and 3. They
pooled their money and chose one of the girls to buy
cigarettes.
Out of curiosity, I followed the girl and watched in disbelief when
she successfully bought a packet of cigarettes at a coffee
shop.
After the girl left, I approached the coffee-shop owner and asked
if he had checked the girl's identification. The man replied that
he asked whether she was 18, and she said 'yes'.
I was furious. The girl was clearly under 18, but the man had
conveniently chosen to ignore the fact. He defended his action by
saying that he had no right to check anyone's identification.
While this incident was not the norm, it was also not an isolated
case. Curbing the sale of cigarettes to minors must go beyond
displaying stickers that say 'no selling of cigarettes to persons
18 years and below'. Vendors have to be more willing to ensure that
they do not sell to minors.
The Singapore Government has been taking steps to discourage
Singaporeans from smoking, through the imposition of smoking bans
in selected public areas and increased cigarette prices. Youth
should therefore be prevented from picking up the habit at an early
age.
The solution does not lie in increasing the fines for vendors who
sell to minors. Vendors have to understand the importance of
safeguarding underaged children from the vice.
The coffee-shop owner was anxious to know if I was a government or
police officer. When I told him that I was neither, he insisted
that he never sold cigarettes to underaged children and told me
that if I wasn't related to the girl, then 'don't bother'.
I hope a random survey can be conducted to see how prevalent such a
practice is, perhaps something similar to the survey done on the
verification of signatures on credit cards featured in The Sunday
Times a few weeks ago.
Nigel Lim Liang Yun
