00:00 Deputy Health Minister Datuk Luka Nisman Awang Sawni told the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday that
00:08 the generational endgame component in the anti-smoking bill was killed due to influence
00:13 from the tobacco and vape industry. He revealed that lobbyists from the industry had even
00:19 met with MPs.
00:20 "The pressure from the industry is that we need cooperation and support from all parties.
00:27 We can see that when we are discussing the GEG, there is a gap in view when the pressure
00:34 from the industry, the industry meeting with MPs, the industry meeting with MPs, this
00:40 affects the decision. And I also hope that if we really want to reject the smoking and
00:47 vaping regulations, we must start from the MPs."
00:50 Former Health Minister Kairi Jamaluddin said Luka Nisman is honest enough to admit that
00:55 big tobacco has penetrated the government, the cabinet and MPs. He said he knew all along
01:01 that the big tobacco and vape industry had been lobbying their agendas to politicians
01:06 and lawmakers. He said Malaysia is signatory to the World Health Organization's Framework
01:12 Convention of Tobacco Control, which disallows tobacco lobbyists from influencing national
01:18 policies. But he said yet this happened during the current administration. He labelled the
01:24 government as "cowardly and irresponsible" when it removed the GEG component from the
01:29 anti-smoking bill. He said if the government is too scared, the least it could do is to
01:34 tighten existing regulations on tobacco sales, such as plain packaging for tobacco products
01:40 and storing such products in the drawer.
01:43 In November last year, the Health Ministry announced the dropping of the GEG element
01:48 from the bill tabled for the first reading in the Dewan Rakyat. The bill was passed after
01:53 two days of debate on November 30, with it later also being passed by Dewan Negara on
01:59 December 14. The GEG element sought to ban those born in 2007 and onwards from smoking
02:06 or purchasing smoking products.
02:08 "I want to save tobacco but not human lives. I am very disappointed and I am not happy
02:15 with the way things are going. I am very disappointed and I am not happy with the way things are
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