Malaise in Malaysia
Malaysia and Singapore are waging a war on evil – we are the evil.
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by Dave Cross
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The two countries amply demonstrate the stupidity of making vaping illegal. To what ends will British vapers follow in the footsteps of their Far Eastern friends if push comes to shove in 2016? In the last week it has been reported than a Singaporean and two Malays have been caught smuggling vaping gear into Singapore. The three of them face fines equating to an average monthly salary for first offences rising to the equivalent of two month’s average salary for repeat offenses.
Singapore banned the importation, distribution and sale of all vaping products at the beginning of the year in their clampdown on vaping and will now become a full-blown ban – leaving vapers with no alternative than to quit or (through smoking) die. Meanwhile, just across the border, upwards of one million vapers enjoy their Phatjuice while they can.
Malay vape shops think they are carrying out a legitimate enterprise one moment, the next there are raids. The confusion stems from poor communication throughout the enforcement service and politicians – but it is all-too clear now that the Sultan wants them all shut down. The Sultan of Johor has next to no power but his decree is likely to be followed absolutely by legislators.
Overnight, the largest vape population in the region will be made criminals. The worst part is that this is nothing more than a vehicle for the nine Malay kings to claim back some authority on what they see is an easy target. But then it is kind of refreshing that there’s honesty about the lust for power instead of the underhand grabbing for money we’ve become used to.
Meanwhile, the Consumers of Association of Penang (CAP) support the notion of a ban purely for ideological reasons. They trot out the same lies we’ve heard in the West: children gaining easy access, flavours to attract them and vaping being a gateway for them to progress into smoking.
But Malaysia has held out till now for a full ban as they wait for a report to be compiled. CAP’s president Mohamed Idris calls the delay a farce. His justification does not lie in evidence, solely in that fourteen other countries have already done it – after all, who would ban something unless there were good reason?
“It will not be surprising,” he says, “if we have more drug addicts in the future as the seeds for the drug addiction is already sown though the introduction of e-cigarette, shisha and vape.” Yep, there you go, ban electronic cigarettes because they will lead to a life of substance abuse. It’s like he’s read Martin McKee’s playbook.
Regardless of the motives behind Article 20, should the Totally Wicked legal case fail is it possible we will see a rise in vapers smuggling devices and liquids through Dover and Harwich? Will we witness fines for individuals who want nothing more than to engage in an informed, healthier use of nicotine? Will our malaise prevent us from stopping this to happen?
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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