Karen Goonting told FMT that enforcing such a curfew might be difficult.

“For one, you can get alcohol at convenience stores which are everywhere, or even at coffee shops.

“People also drink at parties and during festivities,” she said. “How do you enforce curfews on this?”

The suggestion by Penang executive council member Afif Bahardin followed the death of a Penang City Council worker who was hit by a drunk driver last week.

Afif said a curfew on the consumption of alcohol would see those who drink or who get drunk in public during that time facing heavy fines.

He referred to the town of Nelson in New Zealand where drinking is prohibited in specific locations between 9pm and 7am.

However, Goonting said the best solution would be to enforce existing rules against driving under the influence.

“This is not working now because people believe that rules are not enforced, so they won’t get caught.

“Once people start to believe that they cannot get away with drunk driving, or that it is too risky to try it, then it can be curbed.”

But she cautioned that developing such a mindset would take time and resources, with constant and consistent checks and enforcement.

Then, she said, people would start considering taking a taxi or using e-hailing services when consuming alcohol.

She said this mindset could be seen in other countries where having a designated driver or calling a cab is part of the culture.

“But this takes decades and goes beyond enforcement. There is a need for education as well.”

She said pubs and restaurants which serve alcohol could also pitch in to promote a safer drinking culture by advising people against driving under the influence.

Transport consultant Goh Bok Yen said he welcomed stiffer penalties for drink driving, including revoking the driving licence of offenders.

However, he said putting curfews on the consumption of alcohol might be an extreme measure.

“Instead of looking at this issue from a single aspect, we need to look at the bigger picture,” he said.

“On top of drunk drivers, we also have reckless drivers who speed without any regard for other road users, and those with emotional problems like road bullies.

“These people cause accidents too, and they are not necessarily drunk.”

Goh urged the authorities to release statistics and research on the cause of accidents in the country, saying reckless driving might contribute more to accidents than drink driving.

“I agree that we cannot tolerate drink driving, but I don’t think curfews on consumption are the answer.”

He, too, said the way forward would be to improve the enforcement of existing regulations, adding that this would address the problem of reckless drivers as well.