The politics of vape, and why Ismail Sabri is the 'vape hero'

FOCUS Once a fringe industry, the recent clampdown on vaping by the Health Ministry is lifting the veil on this little known giant and the politics of its control.

While not exactly an underground business, the business of vaping, which entered the Malaysian market as early as 2009 was untouched by regulators.

Now under threat following enforcement against the retail sale of liquid nicotine, suppliers, distributors, retailers and consumers who make up the "smoke chain" are fast trying to lobby Putrajaya to gain control of the industry that is reported to be worth more than RM2.8 billion last year.

Their efforts to establish the vape industry in Malaysia have not been spared from political intricacies that make up part of the government’s decision-making process.

Since the crackdown, political figures representing the Malay community, including Umno Youth, Perkasa and even minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, have come forward to speak for the industry.

Last week, Ikhlas - the NGO representing Malay traders who once hosted a protest 'pasar malam' in front of then Bersih chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan’s home - also got into the action.

The NGO offered free vape liquids to attract protesters to the demonstration over the matter in front of the Prime Minister’s Department in Putrajaya.

Why? The demographics of the vape retail industry may shed some light.

Bumiputera entrepreneurs

Meet Shahril, the archetypal vape shop owner. Having started vaping in 2010 as a means to quit smoking, he now owns a vape shop in the leafy Kuala Lumpur suburb of Taman Melawati.

“One day I had a fever and when I recovered, I felt turned off by cigarettes. But at the same time, I missed the sensation of smoking,” said Shahril (picture, left), who declined to be identified by his full name.

Within a year, he learnt how to brew his own e-juices, filling a gap in the market for “local brews”.

He started supplying to retailers, but many went belly up because the mods were too pricey for most Malaysians at the time.

Shahril has since built a following for his brand of e-juices, so he set up ‘Vappetite’ - a shop now selling more than 50 in-house brewed flavours, mostly containing the standard 6mg of nicotine.

Shahril fits the description of 90 percent of vape retailers represented by the Malaysian Organisation of Vape Entities (Move). Move says it represents 1,000 retailers.

Ismail Sabri, the vape hero

The overwhelming bumiputera presence in the industry piqued Ismail Sabri’s interest when Move met the minister to state their case, Move secretary Syamsul Reza Mohd Mokhtar told Malaysiakini.

Reza said Ismail Sabri was concerned that a ban on vaping will hurt young Malay entrepreneurs, who have invested their money into researching, developing and producing new mods and e-juices that meet international standards.

“He is our hero,” Reza said.

Move’s victory in securing a powerful champion to its cause came through Ismail Sabri’s son, Dafi, a vaper who brokered a meeting between Move and the initially sceptical minister.

The vape scene is friends with others close to the corridors of power. A son of the prime minister, Nazifuddin Najib and the deputy prime minister’s daughter, Nurul Hidayah Ahmad Zahid, have been vocal in their defence of the industry.

Retailers, fearing hundreds of thousand ringgit in losses due to the crackdown, can be seen openly seeking Nurul Hidayah’s help on her social media account.

But painting the vape scene as a largely bumiputera industry has turned it into a socio-political battle.

There is speculation among the retailers that the crackdown is to victimise small bumiputera traders, in the interest of a likely monopoly or big tobacco.

This despite insistence of the Health Ministry, led by minister and MIC president Dr S Subramaniam, that it is a public health issue.

Local flavours, local growth

A survey by the World Health Organisation in 2011 found that only about 0.8 percent or 164,000 Malaysian adults were smoking through e-cigarettes or vaping.

Last June, Vaporiser Convention Kuala Lumpur 2015 organiser Ibrahim Mohamed told The Star there is an estimated one million vapers nationwide.

So who are the big winners in the six years of vaping in Malaysia? Tracing the supply chain can provide an answer.

According to Reza (photo), the vaping scene started around 2009 but the trend did not catch on over the next few years due to the limited options for devices and e-liquids.

Some of the earliest known designs, patented by its creator Hon Lik, mimicked the look of traditional cigarettes but functions as a battery-powered vapouriser which simulates the feeling of smoking.

The devices did not take off because there were safety concerns - the temperature was hard to control, for example, and users feared getting burnt.

He said early players mostly imported their stock from China or the United States, be it for ready-made devices or components and ingredients for their own mods and e-juices.

Reza said there were only about 10 known brands of vape juice in the Malaysian market and most were imported from the US at prohibitive prices.

Prices started coming down when China started producing “clones” of mods based on original designs from the US in 2013, but the industry grew exponentially when China started designing its own designs.

This slashed the price of mods from RM500 to as little as RM150.

The device most commonly used today is the Advanced Personal Vapouriser (APV) - comprising the main body (popularly referred to as mods), a battery, a tank (made up of an atomiser and coil component) and the mouthpiece.

The growth in demand drove Malaysian players to experiment with their own vape designs and brewing local-flavoured juices (think ‘teh tarik’ flavoured vape juice).

Vaping capital of the world

It is these brewers who prompted Ismail Sabri to propose that Malaysia be made the vaping capital of the world.

According to industry players, Malaysia is the second biggest consumer market for vaping, while local brewers like Fcukin’ Flava are making a name for themselves overseas through exports, including to Europe.

This brought about industry self-regulation and rising quality standards, said Malaysia Vaporisers and Tobacco Alternative Association (Mevta) president Allan Foo.

The growth of vaping has also diversified the supply chain.

Foo (photo) said while it started as a bumiputera-dominated business, that is fast changing thanks to newcomers who make up 80 percent of the roughly 1,200 retailers nationwide.

"One year ago, maybe 95 percent (bumiputera) was the right figure. But as of now, I will it say it is 70-30 in the market,” said Foo.

Even with the risk that their businesses may go up in smoke, Foo said, Malaysian brewers and modders have proven their entrepreneurship.

“What if the government steps in to help Mevta propel them to the next level? What will happen to the image of the country? That is what Mevta is fighting for,” he stressed.

Given its potential, it is thus better for the industry, he said, to be colourblind and for lobby groups to “fine-tune” their message to stop it from spiralling into a “race problem”.

He said the government’s promise in August not to ban vaping outright also raised hopes for many entrepreneurs who are expanding their businesses from online to setting up brick and mortar stores.

As an industry representative, Foo said, Mevta can help the government to catch up with developments in vaping technologies that are available to address safety and health concerns, which are often raised.

In a report last month, Hong Leong Bank cited market research firm Euromonitor International to estimate the global vaping industry to be worth US$6 billion as at 2014, with 13 million users worldwide.

The report also expects the industry to grow at a blinding speed of 30 percent annually until 2019.

With Malaysia already ahead in vaping, both as consumers and producers, Foo says this could be something the government would not want to give up on.-Mkini