Insisting on smoking at Kuching eatery sees man slapped with RM1,000 fine

KUCHING (Feb 20): The Magistrates’ Court here has fined a man RM1,000 in default one month in prison for smoking at an eatery, which is a gazetted non-smoking area.

Magistrate Nursyaheeqa Nazwa Radzali convicted the 31-year-old on his own guilty plea to a charge under Section 16(2) of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024, read together with Section 16(3) of the same Act.

The Section stipulates a fine of up to RM5,000 upon conviction.

The accused was found smoking at an eatery in Kuching last June.

According to the facts of the case, the accused was issued a notice of offence by the Kuching Health Office Enforcement team after being caught smoking at the eatery.

He was then given two months to be offered a compound at any Health office but failed to do so, which led to the case being filed in court for further action.

Kuching Health Office Legal and Inspectorate Unit prosecuting officer Mohd Fairos Ibrahim sought for the court to impose an appropriate sentence against the accused.

Mohd Fairos said that it would serve as a lesson to the accused and the public to adhere to gazetted non-smoking areas, and to encourage the community to abide by the laws in place for public health.