KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 ― The government should take its cue from Johor ruler, Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, and introduce measures to regulate the vaping industry, the Centre For A Better Tomorrow (Cenbet) said today.
The governance watchdog said it was unbecoming that the state ruler was forced to wade into an issue concerning public health due to the conflicting statements from different ministers, which it added showed a lack of political leadership.
“In other words, at the heart of this controversy is poor governance. Such poor governance, made worse by weak political will has manifested in worsening race relations as racists and bigots become more emboldened,” Cenbet co-president Gan Ping Sieu said in a statement.
Gan said the Johor sultan has a right to express his concern on matters affecting his people, but that his royal decree was not legally binding.
“Whilst royal decrees are not legally-binding, nor having the force of law, nonetheless it ought to be a wake-up call for the authorities to act decisively and put public health above race and politics,” he said.
He added that it was now up to the Johor state government to decide whether or not to make laws supporting the royal decree and enforce them.
Sultan Ibrahim was reported by news portal The Star Online as saying on November 29 that vape or e-cigarette outlets will not be allowed to operate in Johor from January 1, 2016.
Concerns over vaping exist largely due to their initial positioning as electronic replacements for cigarettes, prompting fears that the former may be as harmful as conventional tobacco use.
While the health risks of smoking are well established, the dangers involved in using e-cigarettes have not been conclusively determined.
The more apparent risk comes from users jury-rigging their own vaporisers using diverse components and without proper research, as seen from incidents involving exploding e-cigarettes.
