Lee Hsien Yang, the estranged younger brother of Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, has spoken up in opposition of his country’s vaping ban.
Igniting a family feud in a recent Facebook post, Yang wrote:
“Singapore should lift the ban on e-cigarettes.
“The benefits that would accrue from regulated use of e-cigarettes outweigh the potential risks involved.”
He continued:
“The evidence that vaping is far less harmful than smoking cigarettes is well documented and accepted…it is far better to regulate vaping and impose safety standards.
“We should permit vaping for people trying to quit smoking…to dogmatically retain the existing regulations is simply bad public policy.”
In a subsequent Facebook post, Yang shared a screenshot of a UK webpage, stating:
“Experts in the UK have found, based on international evidence, that while vaping is not risk free, it poses a small fraction of the risks of smoking.”
In spite of this, the Singapore Government are showing no signs of slowing their clampdown, with Immigration and Checkpoints Authority continuing to conduct operations at land and sea checkpoints in the coming months.
Vaping has been illegal in Singapore since early 2018, prohibiting the possession, use and purchase of e-cigarettes and related products across the country.
The enforcement against vaping has been intensified dramatically in recent months, with enhanced online surveillance and enforced advertisement bans. In fact, it was only early January when the arrest of 177 individuals took place at Changi Airport, a result of enforcement being stepped up at border checkpoints across the country.
If punished for the offences, individuals charged could face being hit with a maximum fine of $2000 Singapore dollars (SGD). For repeat offenders, the penalties are more severe, with those found importing or selling potentially facing a jail term of up to six months and a hefty fine of $10,000 SGD.
Subsequent convictions may result in an escalation of the cost of these fines, or, in a worst-case scenario, time spent behind bars extending to a whole year. An influx of people being fined across the country has incurred since the government ordered authorities to crack down on vapes from the end of 2023 into this year.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Singapore, Lawrence Wong, has claimed that the vape ban was originally implemented to ‘protect the population from the harm of e-cigarettes’.
He went on to say:
“In any case, the government has no plans to change our current approach, as our priority is to protect the health of our population and prevent e-cigarettes from causing harm to our people.”
