We all know that Singaporeans love a good weekend getaway to JB. But what we don’t know is what Singaporeans are up to when they’re in JB.
As it turns out, not everyone is at JB for Keijometo or Kam Long Ah Zai Curry Fish Head. According to a JB shop selling vapes, many Singaporeans are there to buy vapes.
Here’s what you need to know about it.
JB Shop Selling Vape Says 70% of Customers are Singaporeans
If you’ve been to JB, you’ve probably been to JB’s BPoint Station near the JB checkpoint. After all, you can find restaurants, petrol stations, car washes and money changers in the area — just about everything you need.
However, according to a staff member at BPoint Station interviewed by Shin Min Daily News, Singaporeans go to BPoint station for one other thing as well— vapes.
The staff member added that Singaporeans are the main customers there when it comes to vapes. In fact, travellers from Singapore account to up to 70% of the shop’s vape sales.
“Singaporeans don’t mind the price. As long as they see a suitable one, they will buy it. But generally they don’t buy in large quantities. Each purchase is less than RM150 (about S$45),” the staff member said.
Well, that’s one way to spend your money in JB.
Another shop selling vapes in a shopping mall about 5 kilometres away from the JB checkpoint echoed a similar sentiment. A staff member at the shop shared that Singaporeans account for more than 50% of their vape sales.
“Most of them speak English when shopping, so I can tell. Local customers rarely come here to buy, they have more choices outside,” the staff member added.
According to Shin Min Daily News, many of these shops selling vapes would place them in obvious spots in the shop. Some shops sold more than 50 different varieties of vapes, but none of them had clear prices.
Wah… 50 different varieties? Macam ordering from zichar menu like that sia.
Sale of Vapes Banned in JB
However, selling vapes in JB is actually illegal too.
The ban on the sale of vape products in JB has been in place since 2016 — it’s been nearly a decade. Johor was the first state government in Malaysia to stop issuing sales licenses for vape products.
Yet, it seems quite clear that JB shops are still selling vapes. The question is how and why.
According to experts interviewed by CNA, it appears that shops selling vapes have been exploiting loopholes in the state law by registering for licenses to sell other products, but also offering vape products as a significant portion of their business.
So, instead of getting a sales license for vape products (which Johor purported to stop issuing in 2016), these shops are getting sales licenses for other products. They then proceed to sell vapes as part of their business.
Further, it also appears to be difficult to enforce the ban, given that state authorities have fewer resources than federal authorities to conduct raids and spot checks on such shops.
In other words, it seems like the proper enforcement of a ban on vape products doesn’t depend so much on what a state government does in relation to vapes. It seems to depend much more on the federal government’s overall position on vapes and subsequent enforcement of the position.
For now, the Malaysian federal government has only limited access to vapes rather than banning it completely.
We’ll have to wait and see whether our neighbour across the causeway decides to implement a blanket ban eventually.
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