A GROUP of disgruntled smokers have formed an association to fight Putrajaya’s smoking ban at eateries, which will take effect next year.

The people behind the Malaysian Smokers Awareness Association (MSAA) told The Malaysian Insight that they, too, have rights, and it is unfair for the government to treat them unjustly.

They want the government to rescind the ban, or at least consult them before its implementation.

The ban, imposed this year, carries fines of up to RM10,000 or three years’ jail against patrons, as well as restaurant owners who fail to implement the ruling, which states that smokers can light up only 3m away from an eatery.

However, following concerns about loss of income raised by businesses, Putrajaya decided to defer the ban to next year.

MSAA secretary Mohd Laisani Dollah said the group’s main aim is for the government to abolish the ban.

“Smokers have rights, too. Why can’t the government compromise and allow both non-smoking and smoking sections at restaurants? Why is that so difficult?

“We are also against the heavy fines under the ban. We think it’s ridiculous,” said the 47-year-old.

The contractor from Terengganu said it took members several attempts to get the association registered with the Registrar of Societies on July 31.

“We were then known as Defenders of Smokers’ Rights. But we decided that for us to be taken seriously, we had to register our association officially and change the name.

“We’ve just formed a committee with seven members from all over the country, and which is headed by our chairman, Hanizam Yunus.”

The group will have its first meeting at the end of the month, where it will decide on its direction.

Laisani said there are plans to register members after the meeting is concluded.

“We have a lot of Facebook followers, and we also have non-smokers supporting us.

“They believe that we’ve been unjustly treated. We are looking to register about 2,000 members.”

He said the government imposes high taxes on tobacco companies, and cigarettes are expensive.

“They are collecting billions in taxes annually, and they want to ban us from smoking?

“We are taxpayers, too, and we have rights. We’re paying RM17.40 for a pack of cigarettes, which is very costly.”

The Malaysian Insight previously reported that restaurant operators said more than 2,000 eateries rolled down their shutters in the six months since the smoking ban was imposed on January 1.

They said their businesses had nosedived as smokers stopped coming in.

Laisani said MSAA has initiated legal action against the government, and will not stop until its grouses are properly heard.

“The matter is still in court, and we await a decision.”

Senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan, representing the Health Ministry, had said the smoking ban was a government policy, and the minister was exercising his official function in implementing the said policy.

“They (smokers) have no right to stop the minister from enforcing the ban,” he said last month.

However, the group’s lawyer, Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla, had said his clients were not consulted before Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad decided on the ban.

“We wrote to him last December, seeking to meet him, but he refused to see us.

“We humbly submit that the ban is against the principle of natural justice, as the minister did not give us the right to be heard before making the decision.”

High court judge Mariana Yahya set October 29 for a decision after hearing the arguments. – September 7, 2019.