SINGAPORE — Mr Kevin Wang, 32, used to smoke a pack of cigarettes every day when he was living in Paris. But one year after moving to Singapore, in 2016, the public officer who works at a statutory board kicked the habit.

“The environment in Singapore made it hard to smoke everywhere. Not seeing smokers all the time helped me to stay focused and not relapse."

At the time, smoking had been banned in entertainment outlets, educational institutions and public areas at residential sites.

Ever since then, the rules have been tightened further. Today, smoking is not allowed in all parks and recreational beaches. Smoking is also banned at Orchard Road except at designated smoking areas, which are marked by yellow boxes.

On the flip side, the outdoor smoking ban has not stopped information technology executive Salihan from smoking as much as he always has.

He finds it inconvenient to head to the limited number of smoking points in the Central Business District where he works, but instead of smoking less as a result, he just makes sure to light up more cigarettes during each smoke break, to “compensate” for the reduced number of smoking sessions.

The stories of Mr Wang and Mr Salihan reflect the successes and limitations of Singapore’s efforts to curb smoking.

Singapore's smoking rate has fallen steadily over the years. According to the 2023 National Population Health Survey conducted by the Ministry of Health, 8.8 per cent of Singapore residents smoked daily, down from 13.9 per cent in 2010.

This shows the extent to which the near-total ban on outdoor smoking, alongside other measures such as gradual price hikes, has succeeded in nudging many smokers to kick their habit while dissuading younger Singaporeans from ever picking it up.

But that remaining 8.8 per cent of daily smokers is a testament to the fact that perhaps government policies can only go so far in stamping out smoking altogether: For some, the addiction to nicotine is strong enough to overcome the many barriers placed in their way.

Others have quit cigarettes only to start vaping instead, despite the fact that vapes, or electronic cigarettes, have been outright banned here since 2018.

It raises the question: If there is any progress to be made in the fight against nicotine, how can it be achieved, and is this even a realistic aim?

WHY IT MATTERS

The ever-increasing restrictions on smoking, coupled with other moves such as hefty hikes in the tobacco tax over the years, have had mixed results.

They gave some smokers, like Mr Kevin Wang, the motivation to quit.

Others say the difficulty of finding smoking points means they smoke less when they have to leave home, and especially if they have to go to the Orchard Road area or the Central Business District.

A regular smoker who wanted to be known only as Madam Quek said that she smokes an average of six to eight sticks daily, but when she heads out to town, that number drops to four.

But there are also smokers who have simply adapted to the rule changes and found ways to maintain their habit.

Mr Robert Fernando, for example, said that the restrictions did not deter him from cutting down his frequency of 20 sticks per day. The 65-year old just avoids the places where he can no longer enjoy his cigarettes freely.

“I stopped going to Orchard Road unless it’s absolutely necessary, because it takes my freedom away”.

Some former smokers, meanwhile, have switched to vaping, ironically because they find it more convenient in some ways — since it is illegal everywhere, they feel they can light up anywhere.

“Vaping offers the nicotine hit with better flavours, no smell, and the flexibility to vape anywhere, even indoors (which is not possible with cigarettes),” said a creative director in his 30s who wished to remain anonymous.

“You can take a hit anytime, anywhere. It is so common in Singapore that no one’s surprised when you see someone doing it. This normalisation makes it easier to vape indoors — at offices, house parties, even in public toilets”.

Vapes have become so popular that the authorities have been stepping up enforcement measures against offenders.

THE BIG PICTURE

Singapore made early moves to curb smoking in 1992 with the passing of the Smoking (Prohibition in Certain Places) Act, which consolidated existing bans on tobacco advertising and smoking on buses, the MRT, and in cinemas.

Over the years, amendments have been made to the laws to ban smoking in more and more premises. In 1994, for example, smoking was outlawed in air-conditioned areas such as factories and private offices.

In 2007, the smoking ban was widened to include entertainment outlets such as pubs and nightclubs, and in 2013, people could no longer smoke in the common areas of residential buildings too. Between 2013 and 2017, the smoking rate dropped from 13.1 per cent to 11.8 per cent.

Another big move was made in 2019, when the entire Orchard Road precinct was designated a No Smoking Zone. A year later, the smoking rate dipped to 10.1 per cent from 10.6 per cent.

And then in 2022, there was no more smoking allowed in public parks and on recreational beaches.

As the Government progressively stepped up these prohibitions, designated smoking points were set aside where smokers could light up legally while outdoors.

For example, by 2017, Nee Soon South built 50 open-air smoking points, fitted with angled benches and zinc roofs, around the neighbourhood.

Over in Holland-Bukit Timah Group Representation Constituency (GRC), there are two cooled smoking booths and the town council plans to add three more.

These smoking points are a hit — but only among non-smokers, who are protected from secondhand smoke.

Smokers themselves are not so enamoured by these designated points and cabins, saying that they tend to be stuffy and uncomfortable.

THE BOTTOM LINE

There is still room for improvement in Singapore's cigarette smoking prevalence rate.

Globally, the accepted definition of a "smoke-free nation" is one where fewer than 5 per cent of its residents smoke daily.

At 8.8 per cent, Singapore is near that standard but certainly can do better, health experts said.

Dr Yvette van der Eijk, an assistant professor at the National University of Singapore who specialises in tobacco control and mental health research, said that if Singapore wants to be smoke-free in the next five years, it could adopt more aggressive measures, such as reducing nicotine content in cigarettes. 

The United States' Food and Drug Administration said in 2022 it was planning to make such a move, but the plan faces fierce backlash from tobacco companies and may take years to take effect, if at all.

New Zealand passed a law in 2022 that would have adopted this move as well, but the measure was scrapped when a new government took over last year.

If Singapore wanted to stamp out smoking over the next 10 years, it could go even further by banning added flavours such as menthol and fruits in cigarettes and implement even more aggressive taxes tied to annual inflation, Dr van der Eijk added.

To stamp out smoking fully over the next 30 to 40 years, the country could consider a generational ban, which would prohibit anyone born after a certain year from buying cigarettes, she said.

In the shorter term, Singapore could consider banning smoking at the outdoor dining areas of bars, restaurants and coffee shops, she added.

“If all of that were just made smoke-free, that would go a long way in helping to de-normalise smoking in these kinds of settings."

She added that social smokers tend to smoke when they are out drinking with their friends, so a ban on food and beverage establishments would disband the association between drinking and smoking.

At the same time, with vaping becoming so popular, it will be important for the Government to step up enforcement against vaping and stop the influx of vapes into Singapore, said Mr Sean Ang, a smoking cessation specialist at Success Alliance Enrichment.

"If we are not careful, one day we might have few cigarette smokers but become a nation of vapers," he warned.

Meanwhile, some noted that anti-smoking policies and programmes must address the root cause of addiction.

Nee Soon GRC Member of Parliament Carrie Tan noted that many people smoke as a way to deal with stress. She believes that to truly address smoking, that is the issue that needs to be fully studied and understood. 

“I think how people are encountering challenges and what resources they have to cope with the difficulties in their lives is what we need to be focusing on."