Penampang Umno chief Hasnol Ayub said smokers were indirectly paying a tax to Putrajaya. “They can sell us cigarettes but they impose tax and then they ban smoking,” he said.

Hasnol proposed that special smoking areas be built at eateries, either by the operators or by the government using the taxes it collected from cigarette sales.

Earlier at the ceramah, the audience noted several policies that were giving the Kimanis folks a hard time.

Among them were the need to pay RM80 to renew the GDL license, the cancellation of the grass cutting contract along the Papar-Beaufort main road, the enforcement of the child seat ruling and the smoke ban at eateries.

Hasnol noted all of the new policies had been implemented even though the government knew “that it will give Malaysians a hard time.”