Smokers gasp their last in Hong Kong’s bars as ban takes effect

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Hong kong smokers will be squeezed out of the city's bars and clubs now a tobacco ban has taken effect, after the government rejected pleas for a further reprieve, saying owners have had enough time to prepare.

"It's time for the smokers" to think about quitting, said Ronald Lam, head of the Department of Health's Tobacco Control Office (TCO). The key message is that the government is working with the community to push for a smoke-free society.

The ban aligns Hong Kong with much of the European Union, the US and Australia, which have all acted to protect workers from tobacco smoke.

While the city banned smoking in offices and at beaches, parks and shopping malls in 2007, more than 1,000 pubs, nightclubs and mahjong halls were granted temporary exemptions, which have now expired.

"It's more than two years overdue," said James Middleton, chairman of Hong Kong's leading anti-tobacco pressure group Clear the Air.

"Health of the workers must always come before business profits."

Under the law, smoking is barred in places that have a canopy, be it a ceiling or roof, and any space where at least half the area is enclosed. One way for bar patrons to smoke is to do so on the street outside.

Smoking is the biggest preventable cause of death and claims 4.9 million lives a year globally, according to the World Health Organisation. The habit is also the leading cause of illness and premature deaths in Hong Kong, according to a statement on the Tobacco Control Offices website. An estimated 5,500 deaths a year result from smoking, the agency said.

Some bar owners had sought an extension of the exemptions because they are already smarting from slowing business. Visitor arrivals last month fell the most since the 2003 SARS epidemic, due to the global recession and concerns about swine flu, while unemployment is at a four-year high of 5.3 percent.

"There is a worry," said Anima Lamarre-Delafoulhouse, the managing director of Makumba African Bar and Lounge in the SoHo district. "It's a difficult time for business, but if the government doesn't understand that, it's really tough."

In the UK, where legislation was also introduced in 2007, beer consumption fell 5.5 percent last year, hurting profit at brewers including Heineken NV.

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