SINGAPORE — Some of the indicators Member of Parliament Lee Bee Wah will look at, before deciding whether a smoke-free-zone pilot in a Nee Soon South district can be replicated in the rest of her constituency, include the number of smokers using the designated smoking points, the cigarette-butt count in the bins at the smoking points and feedback from residents.

Dr Lee’s Nee Soon South ward was picked by the Health Promotion Board (HPB) last year as a test case to make the neighbourhood of 50,000 residents in Yishun the first “100 per cent smoke-free” constituency in Singapore after she voiced strong support for the idea.

For a start, the year-long pilot officially launched yesterday covers only one of seven districts in the ward — Zone D, which spans 28 Housing and Development blocks in Yishun Avenues 1 and 2, Yishun Street 81 and Yishun Ring Road, as well as the Stadium, Sports Hall and Recreation Centre.

Those who want to light up in the area are urged to do so only at six designated smoking points — three-sided 3m by 3m enclosures — although smoking areas at the district’s coffee shops have not been removed.

Currently, smoking outdoors is banned in common areas of residential buildings, such as covered linkways, walkways, void decks, overhead pedestrian bridges, playgrounds and bus stops.

Those who light up outside the smoking points will not be hit with penalties. Rather, “ambassadors” will direct them to the designated smoking points in the vicinity.

Dr Lee stressed that the initiative did not discriminate against smokers. Some residents had complained when they first heard about the scheme last year and mistook it as a blanket ban on smoking.

“We are not against smokers,” she said. “It is an ideal situation in which non-smokers are spared from unnecessary exposure to carcinogens and smokers maintain their right to a place where they may smoke at ease.”

Dr Lee added that, now, some smokers have even given her feedback on how the smoking points can be improved, such as by adding tables and chairs in the enclosures.

Resident Kevin Huang, a 31-year-old sales executive, welcomed the initiative, but pointed out that it would take time before it could change smoking habits.

Meanwhile, smokers like Mr Mark Weng Kit, 52, said he has always been mindful of where he smokes and would use the new designated smoking zones.

“As a family man, I don’t want second-hand smoke to affect my children and others. Even if it’s at home or (in) other areas, I (will step) out to smoke,” said the sales manager.

Similar initiatives have been started in other areas in Yishun to discourage the use of tobacco. Last month, the Lower Seletar Reservoir Park along Yishun Avenue 1 was declared smoke-free, while Yishun Park Neighbourhood 8 has gone completely smoke-free.