Smoking ban for the forces

(First Edition)

SINGAPORE (AFP) - Servicemen in Singapore are to be banned from smoking in uniform in public from May, it was announced yesterday. First offenders will be fined dollars 30 (pounds 20) with fines of dollars 60 for subsequent offences. The ban will also apply to reservists.

Singapore has taken strong measures to curb smoking and first introduced a ban on all cigarette advertising in the media, simultaneously banning tobacco-related promotional gifts such as ashtrays and calendars.

Later, a ban on smoking on public transport and in government buildings and hospitals was imposed, with further bans on smoking in confined areas such as air-conditioned nightclubs, bars and restaurants.