For once Pakatan is doing the right thing

Raja Sara Petra

The Pakatan Harapan government’s move to curtail smoking in public places is the right move mainly because smoking is bad for your health and shortens your life. If smoking is made difficult for Malaysians, many may actually give up smoking, like in the UK.

At one time, more than half the British population smoked but because smokers are being constantly harassed the smoking population is now less than 20%. Because you can no longer smoke in pubs, most people just drink at home, and drink more. About 18 pubs close every week and, since 2001, 25% of the pubs have closed causing thousands of people to seek unemployment benefits, costing the British taxpayers RM1.3 trillion a year.

British people are healthier and now live longer, although more British are unemployed, and the welfare system can no longer cope with the increasing older population and high unemployment. In time, Malaysians will live longer because they are no longer smoking and the old folks home population will outnumber the working population, who will need to pay more tax to support those who are not working in their old age.