Hail the smoking ban?
I couldn't be happier about the city-wide smoking ban in almost all indoor public spaces and outdoor areas such as beaches, stadiums, and parks, which has been in effect since midnight, January 1, 2007. Smoking has only been banned from places such as cinemas, banks, and supermarkets as recently as 1998, but people were still allowed to smoke in places like restaurants. Smoking will still be permitted in bars, nightclubs, bath houses, and mahjong and massage parlours until 2009.
I've never been a fan of inhaling second-hand smoke, and I've been inhaling more than my fair share in the last couple of years. Though Hong Kong is nowhere near as bad as cities in Mainland China, it's still pretty bad. At the restaurant where I eat dim sum with my aunt every weekend, less than 1/3 of the restaurant is non-smoking, and since it used to be quite hard to get a table in the non-smoking section, I usually ended up eating in the smoking section. It's quite nice to be able to taste dim sum WITHOUT the taste of smoke, for a change. It shouldn't be TOO hard for smokers to smoke outside, right?
The University of Hong Kong has decided to apply this city-wide ban into a campus-wide ban in which smoking, both indoors and outdoors, is now prohibited. I think it's a terrible idea. The university used to have designated smoking areas, with clear boundaries, and most of them away from crowded areas. Although I did not enjoy passing these areas - one of them was located below a walkway that leads to my residential hall - I was glad that smokers had a place to smoke. First of all, although I think smoking is bad and I don't have much sympathy for smokers who CHOOSE TO poison their lungs and throats, I also feel that it's wrong to persecute anybody who doesn't do unacceptable harm to others (smoking outdoors is acceptable to me). On a more practical level, I believe that the ban on smoking in outdoor areas will lead to "underground smoking". In other words, I think university officials are naive to think that students and staff would actually leave campus to smoke.
When the weather is particularly bad (i.e. when it's too cold or when there's a typhoon), some of the smokers who live in my residential hall light up in their dorms. They do not bother to go to the designated smoking area on the terrace just outside the building. Even if these smokers open their windows to smoke, the smoke can still waft out from under their doors, into the hallways, and into other peoples' rooms. That's how I know that people smoke in their rooms. The worst thing that can happen is that a careless smoker may end up burning the building down. But the hassles of a ringing smoke alarm or the sprinklers being activated are quite likely. And of course, I hate the smell of smoke. I really hope the university will come to a more practical solution on this one.
I've never been a fan of inhaling second-hand smoke, and I've been inhaling more than my fair share in the last couple of years. Though Hong Kong is nowhere near as bad as cities in Mainland China, it's still pretty bad. At the restaurant where I eat dim sum with my aunt every weekend, less than 1/3 of the restaurant is non-smoking, and since it used to be quite hard to get a table in the non-smoking section, I usually ended up eating in the smoking section. It's quite nice to be able to taste dim sum WITHOUT the taste of smoke, for a change. It shouldn't be TOO hard for smokers to smoke outside, right?
The University of Hong Kong has decided to apply this city-wide ban into a campus-wide ban in which smoking, both indoors and outdoors, is now prohibited. I think it's a terrible idea. The university used to have designated smoking areas, with clear boundaries, and most of them away from crowded areas. Although I did not enjoy passing these areas - one of them was located below a walkway that leads to my residential hall - I was glad that smokers had a place to smoke. First of all, although I think smoking is bad and I don't have much sympathy for smokers who CHOOSE TO poison their lungs and throats, I also feel that it's wrong to persecute anybody who doesn't do unacceptable harm to others (smoking outdoors is acceptable to me). On a more practical level, I believe that the ban on smoking in outdoor areas will lead to "underground smoking". In other words, I think university officials are naive to think that students and staff would actually leave campus to smoke.
When the weather is particularly bad (i.e. when it's too cold or when there's a typhoon), some of the smokers who live in my residential hall light up in their dorms. They do not bother to go to the designated smoking area on the terrace just outside the building. Even if these smokers open their windows to smoke, the smoke can still waft out from under their doors, into the hallways, and into other peoples' rooms. That's how I know that people smoke in their rooms. The worst thing that can happen is that a careless smoker may end up burning the building down. But the hassles of a ringing smoke alarm or the sprinklers being activated are quite likely. And of course, I hate the smell of smoke. I really hope the university will come to a more practical solution on this one.
posted by krazykrankyken @ 10:19 a.m.
4 comments
