A wave of outrage among Malaysians was recently sparked on social media after several photos showing a vape machine being placed at a mall in KL went viral on X (formerly known as Twitter).
The issue was first brought to light by Boo Su-Lyn, the editor-in-chief of CodeBlue, a health news website that frequently raises awareness on issues involving the country’s health sector.
Vape machine spotted at undisclosed KL mall
In Boo’s tweet, she posted a photo of the vape machine that was set up at a mall in KL, though the exact location isn’t revealed.
The vape machine offered a wide range of flavours and even came with taglines such as ‘Breathing in the dark’ and ‘Ignite your senses’ to lure the public into purchasing one.
To make matters worse, the vape machine didn’t require buyers to disclose their age and could be easily paid for using e-wallets such as Boost, Touch n’ Go, or Grab Pay.
According to Boo, the vape machine is completely legal under current health laws as there are no regulations banning the sale of nicotine vape.
This is because the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 has yet to be enforced, as regulations still aren’t ready. The Ministry of Health (MOH) targets August for the regs.
“Nicotine vape has been legal for all (including minors) since April 2023,” she explained.
‘Where are the authorities?!’
Needless to say, Boo’s tweet quickly blew up and it triggered much anger from Malaysians, who were aghast to see such a harmful product being offered so shamelessly to the public, especially minors.
‘We must be one of the very few countries in the world to allow unrestricted access to vape products with unregulated nicotine content. Disappointing on many many levels.’
‘Why isn’t this banned already?! How many school children’s lives have been ruined because of this stupid thing!’
A netizen jokingly commented that perhaps committing vandalism on the vape machine might be a good idea.
MOH officials remove vape machine
Following the outcry, several officials from MOH quickly moved into action and removed the vape machine from the mall’s premise.
A mall marketing officer confirmed the incident to NST, saying that they were notified of the online backlash before unplugging the machine.
“We knew the seriousness of the issue and took immediate action in front of them. We are a friendly neighbourhood mall and have no intention of causing harm. We cooperate fully with MOH,” she said.
When pressed further about the presence of the vape machine, the marketing officer said it was “part of a market test for a potential permanent vape shop”.
“We were also unsure even after allowing it because it is a family mall; so we only allow a short contract term for six months.
“While the machine didn’t have a sign indicating that only those aged 18 and above could purchase the product, the mall has CCTVs in place so that we can monitor who’s buying it.” she said.
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