SMK Darul Ehsan said it took the incident seriously, also because the children were vaping within the compound of a surau next to the school.

“A surau is a holy place of worship and should be respected by all. These actions not only defile the sanctity of the house of worship but also violate the school’s rules and the relevant laws.

“Therefore, the school will take the appropriate disciplinary action against the students involved according to existing guidelines,” it said in a Facebook post.

The secondary school added that it would ramp up its monitoring of students and hold programmes to raise awareness among pupils on the harms of vaping to prevent a repeat of the incident.

FMT has reached out to health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad and Selangor health executive councillor Jamaliah Jamaluddin for comment.

Last month, Jamaliah said the state government will review a proposal by deputy inspector-general of police Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes and vape products in the state.

Ayob had suggested that state governments should restrict the sale of e-cigarettes after citing growing concerns over synthetic drug abuse through vape devices.

Terengganu will ban the sale of vapes and e-cigarettes from August, following in the footsteps of Johor which introduced its ban in 2016. Several other states are also considering imposing a similar ban.