Jump to full article: Agence France Presse (AFP) (fr), 2009-06-30
Intro: For everyone involved here -- from the staff ferrying free drinks and cigarettes to the players themselves -- the marriage between the Chinese gambling game and smoking is one that shouldn't be broken.
Nevertheless, it is about to be.
Hong Kong?s government is set to enforce a blanket smoking ban in public places from July 1, aimed at protecting workers in the city?s bars, nightclubs, bathhouses, massage establishments and mahjong parlours from second-hand smoke.
Yet many workers regard the legislation as a death-knell amid a recession that has pushed the city's unemployment rate up to 5.3 percent. Bars have reported a drop in business as the slowdown bites.
"With the financial crisis, swine flu and now the smoking ban, it?s a perfect storm of trouble for the entertainment sector in Hong Kong," said Lawrence Ho, who has run a bar here for 18 years.
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