The Legislative Assembly building
Lawmakers will vote today on an amendment to Macau’s Tobacco Prevention and Control Law that would completely ban smoking in casinos – including the VIP rooms and the recently created smoking lounges – universities and even bus stops. The fines and taxation on tobacco products would also be increased.
The amendment stipulates increases in fines from the current range of MOP400 to MOP100,000, to between MOP1,500 and MOP200,000.
Introduced in 2012, the existing law banned smoking in most indoor spaces, but casinos were initially exempted. Following some controversy over the reasoning behind the exemption of casinos, a partial smoking ban came into effect on mass gaming floors in 2013, which allowed operators to allocate no more than 50 percent of their gaming area to smokers. A full smoking ban on mass gaming floors was then implemented on October 6 last year, and operators were required to build smoking lounges. Given the law’s temporary provisions, smoking in bars and saunas was banned in January 2015.
Particularly since the beginning of the year, the local government has made it clear that there’s a “zero tolerance” attitude toward smoking in public spaces, in tandem with the anti-smoking campaign currently ongoing in mainland China.
The announcement that casinos will not be allowed to keep their smoking lounges has been contested. The six gaming operators are arguing that the measure will have a negative impact on revenues, which have been dropping for over a year. In June they commissioned a study on the full smoking ban from international audit firm KPMG. The survey indicated that 66 percent of surveyed casino employees are in favor of keeping the current smoking lounges.
The proposal to be analyzed today at the Legislative Assembly also stipulates that the taxes on tobacco products should be increased to more than 70 percent of the sale price (currently the taxes
represent approximately 33 percent of the price). This means that a pack of 20 cigarettes would be taxed MOP30, instead of the current MOP10. PB
September 3 to become public holiday
Lawmakers will also vote today on the proposal to turn September 3 into a public holiday. This would be in order to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Chinese victory over Japan, following an eight-year struggle between 1937 and 1945. The date is also intended to mark the end of World War II, which is alluded to as a “victory in the world war against fascism.”
World War II ended when Japan signed a document confirming its surrender on September 2, 1945, and China celebrated the next day. Last year, China’s top legislature declared September 3 “Victory Day”.
In a statement of reasons for the proposal, the government asserts: “By celebrating the victory over Japan and paying tribute to the heroes, martyrs and patriots sacrificed during the war, it’s intended to show the firmness of the Chinese people against the aggression and for the safeguarding of peace.”
Hong Kong’s Labor Department also announced that it will submit a bill to the Legislative Council to declare September 3 a one-off, non-working public holiday.
independent ventilation system
The Times recently visited the smoking lounges of three gaming operators (Sands China, Melco Crown Entertainment and MGM China) in order to understand how the lounges are run. They are equipped with an independent ventilation system and the kind of technology usually used in hospital operating theaters. According to explanations provided by gaming operators, the smoking rooms do not contaminate the rest of the property, and the smoke-filled air is extracted and vented outside. Combined investment in smoking lounges made by all six gaming operators is said to have reached over MOP1 billion.
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