SCMP
Some pedestrians have apparently complained about Hong Kong’s designated smoking areas. This seems to indicate an increasingly draconian approach to public health. I am not a smoker and few of my friends smoke. The law to ban smoking has tried to appease smokers and the non-smoking members of the community. But the result has been that neither group is happy.
The way the government promoted the ban has led some non-smokers to expect a smoke-free city. Now people converge at public places to light up, locations where there are smokers and non-smokers, such as elevated walkways, outside shopping malls, bus stops, taxi stands and pavements.
Before the law was enacted you would normally see smokers in restaurants, bars and karaokes, where they were not so much of an eyesore. You might see one or two people puffing on cigarettes at outside locations. Now you see groups of up to a dozen. We are not less exposed to second-hand smoke than we were before the ban came into force. There is ill-feeling between the two groups.
The smokers feel cornered and vilified. The non-smokers are annoyed that people are lighting up outside in areas where there should be fresh air. When will the government stop trying to please all parties when it launches campaigns to publicise new policies?
Virginia Yue, Tsuen Wan