Wanna drink? You now have to be at least 21 years old.
A new law increasing the minimum drinking age from 18 to 21 will be imposed on the public starting 1st December next year. Labels explaining the hazardous effects of alcoholic beverages to health must also be displayed on the bottle.
The new regulation comes from The Health Ministry, and it also imposes a new penalty of imprisonment not more than 2 years or a fine not exceeding RM10,000 against those who fail to obey the ruling.
According to the Food (Amendment) Regulations 2016 gazetted on 17th May by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, the following sentence has to be imprinted on all alcoholic beverages:
MEMINUM ARAK BOLEH MEMBAHAYAKAN KESIHATAN (Consuming alcohol can be hazardous to health).
The sentence on the label should be of a non-serif character and the font size should be larger than 12 points.
The ruling is filed under subregulation 2A under Regulation 361 of the Food Regulations 1985 on the “General standard for alcoholic beverage”.
The new law also affects shops which sell alcohol, as they have to put up a notice warning consumers of the dangers of drinking, followed by a sign at the counter displaying the legal drinking age.
