The day Education Minister Desmond Lee witnessed a teenage boy collapse from suspected vaping
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Education Minister Desmond Lee speaking during a media conference on Aug 28. He recounted witnessing a teen collapse.
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
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SINGAPORE – One Saturday morning in early August, at 9am, Education Minister Desmond Lee encountered a young man walking unsteadily towards him.
“He was walking in my direction, and he had an unsteady and exaggerated gait, very exaggerated movements,” he said, describing the teenager as listless and looking “almost drugged”.
The boy eventually collapsed after taking a few more steps, said Mr Lee, who recounted this incident during a press conference on Aug 28
“Emergency services were called. We saw something in his hand that looked like a vape,” he said.
He added that the boy was suspected of possibly vaping with etomidate, so the health services took over.
“So vaping is clearly harmful as a gateway to substance abuse like etomidate. They have a serious impact on our youth,” said Mr Lee, announcing harsher penalties for students caught for vape-related offences in schools and institutes of higher learning (IHLs).
This comes on the heels of a sharp rise in the number of students caught for vaping
Before 2020, fewer than 50 cases from schools and IHLs were reported for vaping offences.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Education said that with intensified enforcement efforts, about 3,100 students on average were caught in schools for vaping offences annually from 2022 to 2024.
The figure was about 800 for IHLs during the same time period.
From Sept 1, a stricter framework will guide schools to mete out suspension, detention and caning for boys for e-vaporiser-related offences. Schools will also take rehabilitative measures such as counselling, and adjust the conduct grade of those who offend.
Recalcitrant offenders will face stiffer consequences.
In IHLs, students could be fined, face community service orders, and have privileges like leadership opportunities and overseas exchange or scholarships withdrawn.
Hostel residents in IHLs caught for vape-related offences will be evicted, while recalcitrant offenders and e-vaporiser traffickers face suspension or dismissal.
