If you've been flaunting the 'no smoking' rule at restaurants all this while, you better take your last puffs.

Because starting from 1 January, the current familiarisation period of the 'no smoking rule' at restaurants will come to an end.

Then, the penalty will be much stricter.

Hefty fine

Malay Mail reported that the authorities are set to become stricter in enforcing laws against smoking at restaurants 1 January 2020 onwards.

This means that if you have gotten off lightly before this for smoking at restaurants, don’t expect to be getting away with it so easily next year.

Quoting Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye, the report said enforcement action will include random inspections to nab violators of the law, which was introduced this year but were relaxed to allow time for adjustment.

“We will enforce this ban and we hope to get the support from the public on this,” he was quoted as saying, adding that random spot checks would be conducted by 5,000 environmental health officers nationwide.

For our information, if caught, the first offence is punishable by a RM250 fine that could snowball to RM10,000 if left unpaid and brought to court.

Oh, this also applies to vaping, as Dr Lee said that vapers would also be treated similarly as smokers.

So, time for you guys to quit smoking for good, or at least, don’t do it in restaurants!