Assignment 3

Government Policies

Policy:
The smoking (Public Health) Ordinance
History of the Policy:
The Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance is a law in Hong Kong that was
made in 1982 for stopping smoking and to put regulations on the sale of
tobacco products. Since the law has been created there have been several
changes to the law and the biggest resent change was the Smoking
(Public Health) Ordinance 2006. This was passed through the Legislative
Council on 19 October 2006 and it was recognized by the government as a
legal document on 27th October 2006.
The stopping of smoking states that if you are caught lighting up inside a
restaurant, in a public transport or anywhere that you are not allowed to
smoke, then youll get a fine. The minimum fine is 1500HKD and the
maximum is 5000HKD.
As I said before there are restrictions to public smoking. There are also
restrictions to advertisements and selling tobacco products some of which
are cigar, pipe tobacco or cigarette tobacco as per the Smoking (Public
Health) Ordinance 2006. Smoking is not allowed in certain places. These
places could be on public transport, such as buses, and taxies. other
transportations are trains, a light rail vehicle such as trams, MTR; and
cars.

They could also be in indoor places and other outdoor places too. The
indoor places are cinema, theatre, or concert hall; public lift escalator,
amusement game centre, child care centre, school, specified educational
establishments, place of refuge, hospital, shops, supermarkets, residential
care home etc. The outdoor places are bathing beach, camp site, pitch,
spectator stand, running track, and sidewalks immediately adjacent to the
pitch or running track.

Next is, nobody is allowed to sell cigarettes more than about 20 or more
cigarettes, and nobody is allowed to sell cigars, pipe tobacco or cigarette
tobacco below the age of 18. When the ban of smoking appeared, the
people started to stop smoking. The reduce daily amount of smoking rate

in last couple of years is mainly because of the tobacco increase in

taxation. The government for the moment, dont have any changes to
control the tobacco sales except than by modifying taxation.
Following is, that nobody is allowed to publish an advertisement in
newspapers, a printed document that is posted around Hong Kong or
putting an advertisement in magazines. In the advertisement, theyre
shouldnt be any encouragement or any style of writing which will say that
smoking is good for your health.
Smoking in Hong Kong:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_in_Hong_Kong
Health
Impact on individual:
According to the Centre for Health Protection from the Government
website, the symptoms of lung cancer could be cough, being tired, weight
loss or sometimes patients would recognise these things until the cancer
spread to different parts of the body such as liver. This impacts on the
individual because it is a very serious sickness and that it is hard for any
patient to go through the stages for getting better.
In Hong Kong, lung cancer is a common cause of and it has been marked
as the top killer or sickness that leads to death. Cancer is clearly linked to
cigarette smoking because there are about 700,000 adults in Hong Kong,
who smoke millions of cigarettes each year. There is about 70% of lung
cancer cases in Hong Kong that are related to smoking.
The Tobacco Control Office says that second-hand smokers or passive
smoking is when people are breathing in cigarettes from other people who
are smoking near them. They have the same effect on smoking as the first
hand smokers. The smoke causes the same disease and cancer, which are
lung cancer and heart disease. This is linked to the individuals because of
the smoke going into the air and polluting the air they breath in. According
to the COSH (Council On Smoking and Health), tobacco smoke contains
over 4,000 chemicals in the form of particles and gases. That nearly
85% of the smoke in a room comes from smoke that passes from a
cigarette into the surrounding air then it is breathed by other people in the
room. The policy is introduced because the government wants to stop
smoking to impact on peoples lives and that people who dont smoke,
dont want to inhale smoke from other cigarettes.
Merriam-Webster passive smoking: http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/passive%20smoking
COSH second-hand smoking:
http://www.smokefree.hk/en/content/web.do?page=SecondhandSmoking
Impact on Society:
This impacts on society because people who smoke sometimes have lung
cancer and their life expectancy will decrease. This also impacts on the

economy because the doctors need to be paid, and when there is a large
percentage of people in Hong Kong who have the cancer, then it becomes
more and more expensive to pay the hospitals for the treatments of the
patients. Impact on Society is when people have lung cancer, they cannot
work while they having their treatments. This will have an impact on the
businesses because they are not doing their work anymore.
The Cultural Politics of Tobacco in Hong Kong:
http://commons.ln.edu.hk/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1003&context=cs_etd
According to the Health Factsheet, people who stopped smoking will live
longer than people who continue smoking. After 6 years of not smoking
anymore, they lower the chance of getting lung cancer just to having a
normal health again. For example, they can be as healthy as a person who
never smoked in their life. Also when quitting smoking, it reduces the
chance to have any related cause of death and for women it is better for
their fertility and their child to have a good weight and to survive.
World No Tobacco Day Information Paper Benefits of Quitting Smoking:
https://www.nrdo.gov.sg/docs/librariesprovider3/Publications--AMI/health_factsheet_tobacco_2014may.pdf?
sfvrsn=0&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
Impact on Economy and society:
When a person buys a cigarette, on the prices there are taxations because
it is not healthy so that bring the price higher by taxing people who buy
them. Part of the money goes to the government to spend on things such
as public schools, the public services, and hospitals. If there is a smoking
ban, people are less likely to smoke so there is less tax going to the
government. This has a big impact on the economy.
Yet, when the money goes to those places, they are used to buy
equipments and materials. For example, hospitals or doctors more
specifically, will use the money to be able to heal the patients by giving
them care they need. Another example is, that when a patient needs to
have medical treatments then the doctor uses the money to take care of
the patient. This does balance the economy a bit more because the
money is used for a useful matter. But, does the impact on the
medical treatment balance that out? This is not well worded.
Statistics of China and Economy Impact on Tourism (mainland):
According the World Health Organisation website 30% of the worlds
smokers are in China. The main source of visitors who come every week,
are the mainland Chinese with 47.2 million arrivals which is about 77.7%
of the total arrivals in Hong Kong, this is according to Tourism Commission
of the government website. If the mainland Chinese know of the smoking
ban, they may not want to visit Hong Kong, yet some may continue
visiting but they might also continue to smoke anyway which impacts on
second-hand smokers health. Also, mainland Chinese spend lots of money

purchasing goods to take back to China, if their number was to be reduced

this would again impact on the economy.
Tourism Performance:
http://www.tourism.gov.hk/english/statistics/statistics_perform.html
Forward Thinking Country
According to the National Environment Agency website, in Singapore, the
smoking ban was first initiated in 1970 and was improved through out the
years to be completely banned in all indoor places and any assembly
areas. Examples of indoor and assembly places are multi-purpose halls,
staircases, corridors, hospital outdoor compounds, and all pedestrian
bridges.
National Environment Agency Smoking Prohibition:
http://www.nea.gov.sg/public-health/smoking
Tobacco Businesses, in Hong Kong and Unemployment Rates
According to The Tobacco Atlas, tobacco industries produces six trillion
cigarettes, each year. As an example of this, there are enough of them to
create a continuous chain of cigarettes from Earth to Mars and back,
multiple times.
Despite scientific research and medical evidence about the dangers of
smoking, one billion people continue to smoke worldwide. The smoking
rates in middle- and low-countries have been increased compared to the
high-income countries.
In 2013, the profits of the top six tobacco companies have the same
amount of profits as of The Coca-Cola Company, Walt Disney, General
Mills, FedEx, AT&T, Google, McDonalds or Starbucks in the same year.
This is linked to Hong Kong because this shows that there are still many
people who smoke worldwide and we know that Chinese people like to
smoke. All of these companies seem to have a good time and they are
getting a lot of money into the company, despite having smoking ban in
nearly all indoor places.
If smoking ban would be that everywhere you go you cannot smoke that
means you cannot carry any smoking cigarettes, then one by one the
companies who are doing the worst will be the first ones to shut
down/close. Then all the famous ones will close too. If, for example, the
Hong Kong Tobacco Businesses closes, there will be more and more people
who would like to find a new job because their job have disappeared same
as the car manufactures. In olden times, many men were needed in all
sorts of jobs in the car manufactures companies, now they only need
about 20 men because they are replaced by machinery. For the Tobacco
Businesses, the customers cannot buy them as it would be illegal to do so,
so the unemployment rates will rise up until these people will find a job to
do.

The Tobacco Atlas - Tobacco companies should be strictly regulated in

ways that minimize the harm caused by their products:
http://www.tobaccoatlas.org/topic/tobacco-companies/
Impact on Public Services 1:
The Health Department of the Hong Kong Government put together
statistics of why smoking is bad for the society. The statistics are that
about 10 people die a day because of smoking related sicknesses.
According to the Thematic Household Survey Report, the amount of
cigarettes that are smoked a day in Hong Kong, from age 15 and above,
was 10.7% which is the same as 645,000 cigarettes that are smoked a day
from all smokers. Most of the smokers are between 30-39 years old, and
men smoke more than women. The earlier the person stops smoking, the
better they will get because they reduce the chance of having smoking
related sicknesses. The smoking
related sicknesses is mostly lung
cancer. When people have lung cancer
they go to hospital, so this has an
impact on public services because the
government has to pay the doctors to
do their job. The table on the right is
Health Facts of Hong
from the Government Website, more specifically the
Health Department, and this tells us how many people smoke in Hong
Kong. This shows that even with the smoking ban there is a good amount
of people who smoke.
COSH News Update: http://smokefree.hk/en/content/web.do?
page=news20131108
Health Facts of Hong Kong:
http://www.dh.gov.hk/english/statistics/statistics_hs/files/Health_Statistics_
pamphlet_E.pdf
Direct Quotes:
The earlier you quit, the more you will be benefited. This is a quote from
the Health Department, which means that the less you smoke, the better you
will live. This is because in cigarette there are dangerous ingredients that
make you addicted to it.

Another quote is It takes determination and perseverance as well as a

healthy lifestyle for one to quit smoking successfully. This is again from the
Health Department, which mans that once you are addicted, it is really hard
for someone to come back to a normal, healthy lifestyle.

The next quote is from the Health Department It is much harder to stay a
non-smoker if you have had a cigarette, so do everything to avoid a lapse.
Even if you slip over, you should keep moving forward This means that what

ever you try in life, dont try to smoke. If you do smoke try and think of
smoothing else, each time you get out your cigarette or warn yourself
smoking is kills you as it is related to your death.

Impact on Public Services 2:

According to the Fixed Penalty (Smoking Offences) Ordinance, a public
officer can give fixed penalties to a person who he or she believes that
they have been smoking in a no smoke area. The officer might give a
notice by payment for the offence. The person has to pay within 21 days
from the date the officer gave the notice. The offender has to pay
1,500HKD.
According to the government website, the person has to pay the fixed
penalty by following the instructions that are behind the notice. The
payment places could be at the post office counters, through Bank
Automated Teller Machine (ATM), by phone or by cheque.
According to eHow, depending on the type and amounts, and on what
caused the fine, for example it could be a small traffic violation fine to a
large labour fine.
The money goes to the Hong Kong Government SAR. It is distributed into
different government accounts.
Fixed Penalty (Smoking Offences) Ordinance:
http://www.legislation.gov.hk/blis_pdf.nsf/6799165D2FEE3FA94825755E00
33E532/45E0DB705DD25F05482575EF0020C63F/$FILE/CAP_600_e_b5.pdf
1823 Frequently Asked Questions:
http://www.1823.gov.hk/eng/FAQ/006006/index.shtm
eHow - Where Does My Money Go When I Pay a Court Fine?:
http://www.ehow.com/facts_7414888_money-go-pay-court-fine_.html
Direct Quotes:
Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health (COSH) welcomes the
Governments proposal to strengthen the tobacco control measures. This
shows that the main there are people who support the ban for cigarettes.
Ms Lisa LAU, Chairman of Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health
(COSH) says, To motivate more smokers to quit and further reduce the
smoking prevalence in Hong Kong, COSH advocates the Government for
increasing the tobacco tax by 100% in 2014-15 fiscal year, making Hong
Kong the worlds first developed region to lower the smoking rate to single
digit. This shows, they have contributed to the ban by making sure Hong
Kong will have a cleaner air to breath in.
COSH - Raising Tobacco Tax for a Smoke-free Hong Kong:
http://smokefree.hk/en/content/web.do?page=news20131119
How Society Can Influence This Policy:

The society can influence the policy by making it even stricter. This is
because when more people are against smoking and they want to enforce
the smoking ban, to be banned everywhere then the more the
government will listen to them as everyone wants it to be like that. The
smoking ban is already banned in all indoor workplaces, some public
places and bars, in public transports and shopping centres. Other places
smoking ban should be put are that no one should smoke in front of
children or in vehicles because therere could be children in them. It is bad
for the childs health to be exposed to cigarettes. It will be bad for their
lungs, and heart.
In UK for example, the government is trying to stop people from starting
to smoke to stopping smoking. There are many ways they do it, one way
they do it is by anti-smoking campaigns or banning smoking around
children. According to a new article that was published under the 2010 to
2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government, the
Legislative Council in UK, which is the parliament, they have agreed to
regulate the smoking by banning smoking in cars when there are children
around. The parliament wants to take action to protect children from the
harm of smoking. This can influence even to stricter the ban because the
government has done taken action to protect the health of children and to
keep them away from wanting to smoke in the future.
GOV.UK Department of Health:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-governmentpolicy-smoking/2010-to-2015-government-policy-smoking
GOV.UK - Smoking in cars set to become illegal:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/smoking-in-cars-is-now-illegal
Likely Future Developments:
The likely future development is to enforce even more the ban as people
can still smoke outside of any building. They may enforce the ban in bars,
nightclubs, and other social gathering places because these places could
be privately owned and people can still put their health in a bad condition.
The government cannot put a police offer in each street of the city to
make sure that people are not smoking, so the only way to decrease the
amount of smokers is to put warnings about their future health conditions,
to enforce the bans or to help them stop by giving them advice on how to
stop it.
I think that the ban is starting to be a positive thing as I have seen only
few people who smoke in Hong Kong, but as always a city is a city. I mean,
you cannot regulate each house hold to see if there are any smokers
about, and their will always be a privately owned shop that will be secretly
operated even if the ban will be enforced on selling tobacco.
Society can affect the policy information by doing campaigns against
tobacco. This will reduce the amount of people buying cigarettes, which in

tern will reduce the amount of tobacco factories and makes there are in
the world. When the tobacco products disappear, then the governments
dont need to put so many police force into the the policy as no one will
buy any cigarettes anymore.
Conclusions:
In conclusion, I think that the tobacco product ban is starting to take
effect. Since the beginning or start of the ban, the governments have
improved it as you have to make sure the ban will be respected to anyone.
For example, when someone says you cannot smoke in restaurants but
you can smoke in bars, then the people who dont smoke and go to the
bars, will have to leave.
The ban has to be equal, so that everyone will be happy. The government
has to adapt the ban to what the people do with it. If for example, you
cannot smoke in all indoor places but you havent specified anywhere
else, then people will continue to smoke where ever it is possible, but
sometimes those places could be a social gathering place, so the people
who dont smoke will have second-hand smoking which is not good for
their health. This means that the government has to adjust again the
smoking ban to be more specific such as do not smoke in social gathering
places.
I think that the government needs to look at the selling part of the
tobacco products and develop it a bit more, and to create accessible
websites or give leaflets around Hong Kong to give tips on who to stop
smoking and how their health and life will be better than now.