HK fumes over planned smoking ban

Hong Kong restaurants say the ban will hit already battered businesses

HONG KONG, China - Hong Kong's restaurateurs are fuming over government plans to ban smoking in public places.

"It's as if we are being hit by an avalanche," Tommy Cheung, a lawmaker representing the restaurant sector and chairman of the Hong Kong Catering Association, told Reuters news agency.

About 7,000 restaurant workers took to the streets this week to protest against the plan to ban smoking in nearly all indoor public places, including restaurants, offices and bars.

The protest was the largest in Hong Kong in months and the first staged by the catering sector.

Hong Kong's government says it wants to implement the ban plan within a year to rid the city's eateries of the dangers of passive smoking.

'Big blow'

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But restaurateurs argue the plan would come as a big blow to their industry, already hit by a slowdown in the global economy.

Hong Kong's restaurant sector is expected to suffer after the crippling attacks on September 11 in the United States, the city's second largest trading partner.

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Cheung estimated around 60 percent of Hong Kong's 10,000 licensed restaurants were already losing money. He says income could drop another 10 percent, or US$1 billion if the government goes ahead with its smoking ban.

While it is unclear how many people would stop eating out because of the ban, a study commissioned by Cheung's association suggests smokers spent about 40 percent more when dining out, than non-smokers.

Restaurants that attract a working-class clientele said they would be the hardest hit.

"It will kill my business. Nobody would want to come anymore. Over half of my customers smoke," said Chan Sie-liang, the owner of Cheung Hing restaurant, whose patrons mostly grab a quick bite.

Hong Kong's tourist sector has expressed similar sentiments, saying that a smoking ban might dissuade tourists from visiting Hong Kong.

Not backing down

Nonetheless, the government shows no signs of backing down on what appears to be a popular move among an equally large non-smoking public.

An official government survey in July showed 81 percent of people supported a ban on smoking in all restaurants.

"The economic factor apart, it is equally important for us to protect restaurant employees and customers from exposure to passive smoking, the hazard of which is well proven and documented," Hong Kong's Health and Welfare Bureau told Reuters in a statement.

For the plan to become law, it must first pass the 60-member legislature, which the government hopes will happen within a year.

Smokers fuming

A survey shows that smokers spend more on food

Smokers have also decried the proposed smoking ban.

"(The plan) would strip me of my basic freedom," said Andrew Wong, an independent lawmaker who smokes well over a pack a day.

Hong Kong, a territory of nearly seven million people, has few smokers compared with many of its neighbors and developed nations across the world.

Only 27 percent of men and about 2.9 percent of women in the territory smoke according to the World Health Organization.

But many smokers in this former British colony see puffing on a cigarette between courses as their greatest joy.

"I must have a cigarette to go with my tea. I would just stay home and have my tea if I wasn't allowed to smoke here," said Mr Tsui, who frequent tea houses for an early morning cup.