<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Why smoking persists in Housing Board lifts
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->IN RECENT years, the Government has beefed up rules against inconsiderate smokers, such as by partitioning areas in coffee shops and banning smoking in pubs. However, it has overlooked one important area where inconsiderate smokers flout the rules - in Housing and Development Board (HDB) lifts.
I live in an HDB block in Bukit Panjang and on many occasions have seen residents of my block leaving the lift with a lit cigarette.
My husband and I have a one-year-old daughter. Before the lift upgrade, when the old lifts were still side by side, if a lift was full of cigarette smoke we would send it to the highest floor so the other lift would come down to serve us.
However, the upgraded lifts are physically quite far apart, so we have no choice but to ride in the lift and suffer inhaling the cigarette fumes.
When I read the sign warning against smoking in the lift, I realised that punitive measures are not mentioned at all. The sign only says smoking is not allowed but does not mention what punishment culprits face.
In any case, there is no way these culprits can be caught as there is no camera in the lift to catch them.
I hope the Health Promotion Board will act.
Unlike coffee shops and pubs, lifts are used by everyone, every day.
Chia Sok Lin (Ms)
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->IN RECENT years, the Government has beefed up rules against inconsiderate smokers, such as by partitioning areas in coffee shops and banning smoking in pubs. However, it has overlooked one important area where inconsiderate smokers flout the rules - in Housing and Development Board (HDB) lifts.
I live in an HDB block in Bukit Panjang and on many occasions have seen residents of my block leaving the lift with a lit cigarette.
My husband and I have a one-year-old daughter. Before the lift upgrade, when the old lifts were still side by side, if a lift was full of cigarette smoke we would send it to the highest floor so the other lift would come down to serve us.
However, the upgraded lifts are physically quite far apart, so we have no choice but to ride in the lift and suffer inhaling the cigarette fumes.
When I read the sign warning against smoking in the lift, I realised that punitive measures are not mentioned at all. The sign only says smoking is not allowed but does not mention what punishment culprits face.
In any case, there is no way these culprits can be caught as there is no camera in the lift to catch them.
I hope the Health Promotion Board will act.
Unlike coffee shops and pubs, lifts are used by everyone, every day.
Chia Sok Lin (Ms)
