Our enforcement of the smoking prohibition complements our efforts to educate smokers to strictly observe the law against smoking in certain places.

Our enforcement officers are deployed to various areas where smoking prohibitions are imposed, based on our regular surveys as well as feedback from the public on the level of compliance with smoking restrictions.

Manpower is stepped up where necessary.

While we believe the number of errant smokers caught is a reflection of the success of our enforcement and education efforts, we accept there will be areas where enforcement may not be adequate.

We will therefore continue to take stock of ground situations and review if further actions are needed to tighten enforcement in specific areas.

We encourage the public to continue giving feedback on smoking-prohibition infringements they come across by calling our 24-hour hotline on 1800-CALL NEA (1800-2255-632), so we can deal more effectively with smokers who do not observe the smoking ban.

We thank Mr Choo for his letter.

S. Satish Appoo
Director, Environmental Health Department
National Environment Agency