More than a year after losing his daughter, Delfard Tay has become involved in the fight against e-cigarettes containing synthetic drugs, which are worrying the Singaporean authorities.
In September 2024, the body of his 19-year-old daughter, Shermaine, was found downstairs from their apartment building. The forty-year-old blamed a type of e-cigarette, nicknamed "Kpods" in Singapore, for her death.
The Asian city-state is facing a worrying rise in the use of these e-cigarettes, which most often contain etomidate, a short-acting hypnotic that can cause hallucinations and even convulsions.
Sold illegally on Telegram or smuggled overland from neighboring Malaysia, where vaping is legal, “Kpods” are often marketed under catchy names like “zombie spice” or “space oil,” with flavors like mango or blueberry.
As a result, the city-state recently extended its moratorium on e-cigarettes, introducing tougher enforcement last month of the law that has banned them since 2018.
In a country that ranks among the strictest on narcotics, e-cigarettes are now treated as a drug problem, not more tobacco.
Since September 1, possession of e-cigarettes is punishable by a fine of up to 2,000 Singapore dollars (1,327 euros).
Repeat offenders may be subject to mandatory rehabilitation or caning if they are Singaporean. Foreigners risk deportation and permanent banishment.
Those who import e-cigarettes containing drugs face up to 20 years in prison, and dealers a maximum of 10 years.
– “Illicit market” –
Delfard Tay's story caught the attention of authorities, who asked him to join a government campaign against vaping.
“I’m sharing my story because even if just one person is saved from using Kpods, my daughter’s memory will have been put to good use.”
Videos of Singaporean teenagers "walking like zombies" after vaping began circulating online this year.
One of them, broadcast on July 31, shows a teenager staggering on the subway before falling backward.
An e-cigarette was found in his possession, according to the Health Sciences Authority, which is leading the crackdown on vaping.
Singapore has mobilized 10,000 officials from various agencies to combat vaping.
According to official data, 656 people were arrested for vaping in the first three weeks of September.
Among them, 44 used e-cigarettes that contained etomidate.
Authorities in the city-state fear that e-cigarettes could contain more dangerous drugs in the future.
However, not everyone supports the Singapore model: that of strengthening control and repression of these products.
According to the Coalition of Asia-Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA), widespread bans could simply drive the trade underground.
"More than 75% of the global volume of e-cigarettes is fueled by the illicit market," says Euromonitor International, a London-based market research company.
According to this source, 31% of all consumers worldwide reside in places where these products are banned.
But for Delfard Tay, who is mourning the death of his daughter, campaigning is urgent.
"Kpods will kill your dreams, steal your future," is the message he wants to convey to the youth of Singapore.
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