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Who cares about smoking in China?
By Li Xinran |
September 7, 2009, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A 56-year-old man was detained last week at a wholesale market in Chongqing Municipality for lighting up a cigarette, despite a public smoking ban.
The unlucky man, who was identified by his surname as Zhao, served five days in jail after taken into custody last Tuesday. So far, he is the only one known to be punished so harshly for smoking in public.
Many other smokers knowingly and flagrantly violate smoking bans without any punishment.
Last year, I spent two months in Chennai, capital of India's Tamil Nadu state, and I saw nobody smoking in restaurants, cafes or clubs. The state has banned smoking in many public places by law and it enforces the ban. So people are careful.
On the contrary, many people in China are willing to pay fines so they can smoke anywhere they want. They think if they can pay the fine, they can do anything they want.
Chinese people's frequently defying and ignoring laws and orders is partly due to some local governments' indulgence. Some local authorities are lax in enforcing rules and policies they themselves adopted.
A report by Shanghai's Jiefang Daily in March said smokers were everywhere in downtown entertainment venues where smoking is banned, including karaoke clubs, pubs and game venues downtown. A 1994 city regulation bans smoking in these venues and calls for a fine of up to 1,000 yuan (US$146) for violators. On the night Jiefang reporters visited those places, no smoker was fined.
In July, Turkey, famous for Turkish cigarettes, imposed a national smoking ban in many public places. A survey reported that after one month it was observed by around 94 percent of the restaurants, bars and cafes surveyed.
Unbelievable. Though many bar and restaurant owners strongly objected to the policy - some even wrote to lawmakers demanding it be abolished - they went along with it and obeyed the law.
The unlucky man, who was identified by his surname as Zhao, served five days in jail after taken into custody last Tuesday. So far, he is the only one known to be punished so harshly for smoking in public.
Many other smokers knowingly and flagrantly violate smoking bans without any punishment.
Last year, I spent two months in Chennai, capital of India's Tamil Nadu state, and I saw nobody smoking in restaurants, cafes or clubs. The state has banned smoking in many public places by law and it enforces the ban. So people are careful.
On the contrary, many people in China are willing to pay fines so they can smoke anywhere they want. They think if they can pay the fine, they can do anything they want.
Chinese people's frequently defying and ignoring laws and orders is partly due to some local governments' indulgence. Some local authorities are lax in enforcing rules and policies they themselves adopted.
A report by Shanghai's Jiefang Daily in March said smokers were everywhere in downtown entertainment venues where smoking is banned, including karaoke clubs, pubs and game venues downtown. A 1994 city regulation bans smoking in these venues and calls for a fine of up to 1,000 yuan (US$146) for violators. On the night Jiefang reporters visited those places, no smoker was fined.
In July, Turkey, famous for Turkish cigarettes, imposed a national smoking ban in many public places. A survey reported that after one month it was observed by around 94 percent of the restaurants, bars and cafes surveyed.
Unbelievable. Though many bar and restaurant owners strongly objected to the policy - some even wrote to lawmakers demanding it be abolished - they went along with it and obeyed the law.
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