The recently-passed anti-smoking amendment bill allows casinos to set up smoking lounges in gaming areas in line with the standards set by the government, with the aim of ensuring that casino workers’ health will not be jeopardised.
Leong made the remarks while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a seminar about the creation of a smoke-free Macau. The one-day seminar took place at the Vocational Skills Training Centre run by the Macau Federation of Trade Unions (commonly known as Gung Luen) near the Barrier Gate border checkpoint. The seminar was jointly organised by the centre, Smoking Abstention and Good Health Association, Macau Gaming Employees Home, Macau Wisdom Convergence Network, and Macau Youth Stop Smoking Action Network Association.
The legislature passed the government- initiated Tobacco Prevention and Control Law’s amendment bill during a plenary session earlier this month. The bill is slated to take effect on January 1 next year.
The amendments state that smoking lounges with the officially required standards will have to be set up within a year of the law coming into force. The current smoking lounges and smoking areas can remain in place during the one-year interim period, before casinos finish setting up the smoking lounges in accordance with the new official standards.
Since October 2014, smoking has been banned in casinos’ mass-market areas, although smoking lounges with separate ventilation systems are permitted, while high-rollers are still allowed to smoke in designated smoking areas in VIP rooms.
However, one year after the law takes effect smoking in all gaming areas, including VIP rooms, will only be allowed in smoking lounges.
The outline of the bill was passed by a plenary session of the legislature in July 2015. The original version of the bill proposed a
blanket smoking ban on all casino premises. However, the government amended the original version of the bill earlier this year, proposing to allow casinos to set up smoking lounges in gaming areas in line with the new official standards.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Leong said his association was disappointed that the government decided to change its original plan of imposing a blanket casino smoking ban.
Leong noted that the government said previously, before its change of mind, that no smoking lounge can ensure that people
outside will not be affected by the smoke, citing the World Health Organisation (WHO).
During the article-by-article vote during a plenary session on July 14, 24 lawmakers voted in favour of the article which allows the settingup of smoking lounges in gaming areas, while eight lawmakers voted against it. The legislature has 33 members. The three Gung Luen lawmakers voted against the article.
Leong urged the government to announce its officially required standards for casino smoking lounges as soon as possible.
Leong said he was worried that the government will draft the standards for casino smoking lounges in a subjective way, adding that the government should draft the standards in an objective way based on scientific facts, with the aim of ensuring that casino workers will be well protected from smoke.
Leong, who is a candidate in the September 17 direct legislative election, also urged the government to station anti-smoking inspectors 24 hours a day in casinos to enhance law enforcement and act as a deterrent.
Leong said that there was a low probability that inspectors of the Tobacco Prevention and Control Office of the Health Bureau (SSM) would fine smokers because the amount of time it takes to smoke a cigarette is relatively short.
Leong pointed out that gamblers usually finish smoking by the time the inspectors arrive, after receiving and acting on complaints.
Leong said that while the local business sector was worried that a blanket casino smoking ban would adversely affect the local economy as the gaming industry is a key pillar of Macau’s economy, studies in the United States showed that a blanket smoking ban in restaurants and night entertainment venues does not negatively affect their business.
When asked by the media about the government having changed its original stance by not pushing for the previously planned implementation of a blanket smoking ban in all gaming areas, Leong replied that the government appeared to favour the business sector by not making a decision in an objective and scientific way – and not following the WHO’s suggestion.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam Chon Weng told lawmakers the government’s ultimate aim was to impose a blanket smoking ban on all enclosed public spaces.
Macau Federation of Trade Unions Vice President Leong Sun Iok speaks to reporters yesterday at the Vocational Skills Training Centre near the Barrier Gate border checkpoint. Photos: Tony Wong
