THE Dewan Rakyat’s passing of the motion tabled by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin yesterday (Aug 2) to refer the Control of Tobacco Products and Smoking Bill 2022 to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSCC) for fine-tuning is most timely to say the least.
Although the vision of the bill which culminates in a Generational End Game (GEG) policy is favourable from a medical and health perspective, the contents of the bill are problematic particularly from the enforcement perspective, according to Pemuda Sosialis (youth wing of Parti Sosialis Malaysia [PSM]).
Firstly, clause 17 which stipulates that any person born on and after Jan 1, 2007 shall be liable to a fine not exceeding RM500 (initially RM5,000) reflects the use of a punitive method to combat smoking addiction which is a health issue as opposed to a crime, hence raises the issue of social stigma.
Moreover, Pemuda Sosialis highlighted that clauses 26, 31, and 34 pose a great threat to the safety of the people as they unnecessarily empower authoritative bodies “by enabling them to abuse their power and terrorise individuals as well as communities”.
“This is largely due to the use of ambiguous language within the bill,” it claimed. “There is no clear indication of what is considered as suspicious behaviour to justify giving power to the authorities to enter premises, stop, search as well as seize conveyance, and access recorded information including but not limited to computerised data.”
Hence, passing the bill without revising these clauses will jeopardise the security and privacy of people, including those who are in proximity to a suspect.
“The passing of the ineffective IPCC (Independent Police Conduct Commission) bill should also be highlighted as there is currently no strong independent body to monitor the activities of the authorities, further accentuating the inevitable abuse of power that will come with the passing of this bill,” Pemuda Sosialis pointed out.
Moreover, clause 33 which empowers the authorities to enforce measures contained within clause 32 without a warrant is detrimental to the people.
“Regardless of whether or not the authorities do possess reason to forgo a delayed warrant in order to search and seize a premise (by force if necessary as provided in clause 32), this sets a precedent for them to do so anyway, being held accountable for it (if at all) only after it has been weaponised against a suspect,” opined the PSM’s youth movement.
“This is clearly an unnecessary amount of power to give to any authoritative body which harms the people, especially marginalised and lower income groups who are disproportionately targeted by them.”
Voicing similar sentiment, Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii also expressed concern over “gaps of implementations, and possible loopholes and over-reaching enforcement powers” in the Tobacco Control Bill 2022.
“This includes concerns on provisions in the bill that grants enforcement officers the powers to enter any premises, seize baggage, stop, search and seize conveyance as well powers to search and seize without warrant, including a body search by officers of same gender just at a suspicion of possessing any tobacco products,” he noted.
“This is disproportionate and open to abuse especially when there is inconsistent enforcement from different agencies. A person addicted to nicotine – whether a smoker or vaper, whether in the GEG generation or not – has the right to be treated equally under the law, with compassion and dignity.”
At the end of the day, a review of the bill is not a delay tactic given the timeline for implementation of the GEG is not affected as it has been agreed to be delayed for two years, according to Dr Yii.
“What is more important is to make sure we come out with a ‘good law’ to address all the concerns, to get proper buy-in to increase compliance, and to ensure it achieves its intended target,” he added. – Aug 3, 2022
