Recorded Offences in Last Three Years for Smoking in Common Corridors and Void Decks of HDB Blocks and of High-rise Littering of Cigarette Butts and Ash

30 Dr Chia Shi-Lu asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources for the past three years, what has been the number of recorded offences for (i) smoking in the common corridors and void decks of HDB flats and (ii) high-rise littering from HDB flats related to cigarette butts and cigarette ash respectively.

The Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources (Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan) (for the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources): Over the past three years, the National Environment Agency (NEA) issued more than 11,000 tickets for smoking along common corridors and void decks of HDB estates. This makes up about 15% of the total number of tickets issued for smoking in prohibited places during that period. I urge smokers to be mindful of the health of others and not light up in smoking-prohibited places. Families and friends, and even members of the public, can help remind smokers to reinforce the right social norms.

Over the same period, NEA took more than 2,200 enforcement actions against high-rise littering from HDB flats involving cigarette litter. This makes up about 76% of the total enforcement actions taken for high-rise littering during that period. High-rise littering is an anti-social act which affects safety as well as environmental hygiene. I urge everyone to play his or her part to keep our common spaces clean and ensure that Singapore remains a clean, green and sustainable home for all of us.

Dr Chia Shi-Lu (Tanjong Pagar): I thank the Senior Minister of State for her replies. I just have two short supplementary questions. The first is regarding enforcement of smoking in common corridors and also in stairwells. I note the efforts of the NEA, but I still receive a lot of feedback from residents about recalcitrant smoking in stairwells and common corridors, which is probably a bit difficult to enforce, particularly at odd hours of the day or even at night. I was wondering whether there were any efforts to improve enforcement in these areas, perhaps use cameras that are already in some of the corridors put in by the Singapore Police Force.

The second supplementary question, I know is a common question. We still have much feedback about second-hand smoke coming from the smokers' own residences. And I know that the Senior Minister of State has replied on this but I was wondering if there was any update on any measures that we can take to mitigate this problem as well.

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan: I am pleased to say that for the first question, at least I have an update. As the Member knows, we cannot constantly monitor all the 32,000-odd smoking-prohibited places or respond immediately to every feedback, especially given the fleeting nature of the act. So, to reinforce the no-smoking regulations, NEA has started deploying thermal cameras in public residential areas, particularly the common corridors, the lift lobbies, the stairwells, where there is persistent feedback on smoking issues. This is to enhance surveillance to curb unlawful smoking. The cameras are able to capture images of the smoking infringement as well as the date and time, and this allows NEA to follow up with investigations.

Let me share that so far, more than 20 offenders have been caught through these thermal cameras and have been issued with composition fines.

As regard the second question, I am afraid I do not have any updates on this. But let me say that smoking is already prohibited in many, many places. I said 32,000-odd places, and actually, there are very few areas where our smokers can smoke now. And we are mindful about enacting laws that are too intrusive. And, in fact, while as many have given us feedback – why do you not enact laws to prohibit smoking within their own homes, there are also many who tell us that they do not believe that the Government should intrude into one's private space.

So, we continue to encourage our smokers to be civic-minded and in the spirit of building a socially gracious and civic-minded society, I think we should all try to resolve this amicably, as far as possible.

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Sir, I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State about the thermal cameras. How many are there and is there any in Nee Soon South?

In fact, I have just given feedback to NEA over the last few weeks. It looks like smoking in staircase is very, very common, and I received a lot of complaints. Lately, there is this resident who keeps saying that the smoke goes into her flat and she has young children. So, I have been talking to NEA, in fact, just last week. What is the solution? Are we going to have a national campaign about smoking at the staircase affecting the health of residents?

Now I hear about these thermal cameras. How many do we have? Are there any installed in Nee Soon South?

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan: Well, first, I would highly recommend that the Member start this social, civic-mindedness and gracious campaign among the residents, as far as smoking in residential homes are concerned. With regard to thermal cameras, we outsource it to a third party to provide this service. So, where there is persistent feedback on smoking issues in common corridors, lift lobbies and stairwells, we can look into the feasibility of providing such thermal cameras. I have no idea whether Nee Soon has any of these.

[Pursuant to Standing Order No 22(3), Written Answers to Question Nos 31, 33-34, 36-38, 40-44 and 47-58 on the Order Paper are reproduced in the Appendix. Question Nos 32, 35, 39, 45-46 have been postponed to the sitting of Parliament on 4 Feb 2020.]