Some 145 provision stores, coffeeshops and independent retailers will be pulling cigarettes off the shelves on Friday in support of World No Tobacco Day. They join major supermarket chains such as Cold Storage, Giant, Sheng Siong and NTUC Fairprice in this effort to highlight the harms of smoking.
Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Parliamentary Secretary (Health and Transport), said he is heartened that more small retailers are supporting this initiative, which has been run by the Health Promotion Board for a number of years.
Speaking during a visit to some of the participating retailers on Thursday he added: "This may be a small but significant step as it is indicative of the community spirit and willingness to work together to promote a tobacco-free lifestyle as the social norm."
One such participant is Sin Wah Hong coffeeshop in Geylang. Its owner Mr Tan Biing Yan, 40, said he wanted to do his part to discourage the next generation from taking up the habit. "It will improve the coffeeshop culture as well, because some people don't like others to smoke beside them when they are eating," he said.
This is an even more ridiculous idea - ban display of cigarettes at stores.
How will the customers know what cigarettes and prices are available? And who believes that young smokers pick up smoking because they notice cigarettes in stores - they can see cigarettes everywhere!
To combat the rising number of young smokers here, the Health Ministry will be gathering the public's view on whether ban shops from displaying cigarettes from Saturday.
The idea is for shops to keep these tobacco products hidden from view, and produce them when smokers ask to buy a specific pack.
Smoking is on the rise in Singapore, with 14.3 per cent of adults here hooked on the habit. This is up from 12.6 per cent in 2004.
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, who announced the public consultation today at the launch of the National Smoking Control Campaign, said the proposed ban aims to protect the young from the harms of tobacco advertising.