Smoking corners at food centres to decrease over time: NEA

We thank Mr John Juay Bo Yin for his feedback (“Protect patrons of food centres from secondhand smoke”; Feb 6).  

Previously, operators of food retail establishments were allowed to apply for a smoking corner in their outdoor refreshment area.

But since 2015, all newly built hawker centres have been smoke-free. Right now, 71 hawker centres are smoke-free and 33 have smoking corners.

Furthermore, since June 2017, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has stopped accepting applications for smoking corners at all food retail establishments islandwide.

Existing smoking corners at food retail establishments will be allowed to remain until their licences are terminated or cancelled.

The number of smoking corners will therefore decrease over time, in tandem with the reduction in existing food retail establishments with smoking corners.

The Smoking (Prohibition in Certain Places) Act was enacted to ban smoking in public areas. 

The NEA will progressively extend the smoking prohibition to more public places, except designated smoking areas. This is to safeguard the public from secondhand tobacco smoke and to create a more conducive living environment.  

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