Dear Smokers, The 20% Tobacco Tax Hike Is Only The First Step

When Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong announced a 20 per cent increase in tobacco excise duty with immediate effect as part of Budget 2026, I felt something close to relief.

At last, a move that makes cigarettes more expensive — and hopefully less appealing.

As a health-conscious mum of two (my kids are 10 and 7), any step that makes smoking less accessible feels like a win. If higher prices mean even a small percentage of smokers cut back or quit, that’s good news for public health.

But here’s what keeps me up at night: while cigarettes are getting more expensive, my children are still breathing in second-hand smoke.

There’s no safe level of exposure

We live in a country that prides itself on clean air, green spaces and strict rules. Yet on some evenings, when I open the windows to let fresh air into our home, what drifts in instead is cigarette smoke from downstairs or from a neighbouring unit. The smell seeps into curtains and cushions. My son wrinkles his nose and asks: “Mummy, why does it smell like that again?”

I don’t always know how to answer him without sounding angry.

Second-hand smoke is not just unpleasant — it is harmful. Exposure is linked to respiratory infections, ear infections, severe asthma attacks, long-term lung damage and even sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). There is no safe level of exposure.

Children are especially vulnerable. They breathe faster than adults, and their lungs are still developing. They cannot choose to walk away from smoke that enters their bedrooms at night. They cannot decide to shut the windows when the air outside carries someone else’s habit indoors.

The reality in our home

And then there’s third-hand smoke — something many people don’t even think about.

It’s the lingering residue that clings to clothes, furniture and walls long after the cigarette has been extinguished. We experience it in small but unsettling ways. Recently, my son complained that his pyjamas smelled of smoke — even though no one in our family smokes.

The likely culprit? Laundry hung outside to dry while neighbours were smoking nearby.

It’s easy to dismiss that faint scent as harmless. But third-hand smoke residues contain toxic chemicals that children can inhale, ingest or absorb through their skin. A child pulling on what should be clean pyjamas at bedtime shouldn’t unknowingly be wrapping himself in the remnants of someone else’s cigarette.

The 20% tobacco tax hike is a start

This is why the tax hike matters. If cigarettes cost more, perhaps fewer people will light up. Perhaps fewer young people will start. At a time when Singapore is fighting hard against vaping and trying to prevent a new generation from becoming addicted to nicotine, raising tobacco prices sends a clear signal: smoking is not something to be normalised.

But price alone does not solve what families like mine face daily.

Smoking is already prohibited in many public areas — under void decks, near playgrounds, along certain common corridors. Yet how often do we see someone taking a quick puff near a bin or at the foot of a block, assuming no one will say anything?

How often do we simply close one eye because confrontation feels uncomfortable?

The rules exist. But without consistent enforcement, they can feel optional.

One person’s habit is another family’s risk

I am not calling for smokers to be vilified. Addiction is complex. Quitting is hard. Many smokers are thoughtful and try to be discreet.

But the reality is this: one person’s habit becomes another family’s health risk.

When my kids play at the playground and someone stands a few metres away smoking, they are the ones who move. When smoke drifts into our flat, we are the ones who shut the windows. When cigarette butts appear in common areas, it is our estate cleaners who pick them up — and our children who step around them.

What message does that send? That adult habits trump children’s health? That shared spaces aren’t truly shared?

Families need more than higher prices

So yes, I welcome the 20 per cent tax hike. It reinforces the broader national effort to reduce nicotine use, especially at a time when youth vaping is a serious concern.

But I also hope this moment sparks reflection among smokers themselves.

If you choose to smoke, can you step further away from homes, playgrounds and bus stops? Can you remember that smoke travels, and that vulnerable lungs are breathing it in?

Can you recognise that even what you cannot see or smell strongly may still linger where children live and sleep?

As parents, we spend so much time teaching our children about responsibility and consideration for others. Perhaps this is one area where adults need to model that lesson more clearly.

A tax hike can discourage consumption. Enforcement can reinforce boundaries. But ultimately, it is consideration — for families, for children, for the air we all share — that will make the biggest difference.

And that’s something no budget measure alone can guarantee.