Inside Asian Gaming

March 2014 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 17 One million people will die in China this year from tobacco- related diseases. An estimated 100,000 of these deaths will come from exposure to second- hand smoke, which will afflict some 740 million non-smokers on a daily basis. The World Health Organization expects the country’s tobacco-related deaths to increase to 3 million over the next generation. of December, all of them had: five Mocha Clubs (two of which have since closed under unrelated rules limiting gambling in residential areas), eight SJM third-party satellites and Galaxy’s StarWorld. At that point, the six concessionaires had already suggested that providing gamblers with airport-style smoking rooms might help and asked for permission to set them up. But, again, strangely, the government appeared to be in no hurry to act and instead referred the request to what Mr Cheong called a“cross-departmental government team“ for deliberation. SJM went ahead and set one up anyway at the Casino Crystal Palace, an aging two-story wing of the old Lisboa. Ms Leong said the rooms might be added at other properties. Problem China Across the border in China, 1 million people will die this year from tobacco-related diseases. An estimated 100,000 of these deaths will come from exposure to second-hand smoke, which will afflict some 740 million non-smokers on a daily basis. The World Health Organization expects the country’s tobacco-related deaths to increase to 3 million over the next generation. The central government has set itself the lofty goal of banning indoor smoking in public areas by the end of this year, and to set an example government officials have been told not to puff in public places such as hospitals, public transport or schools while on duty. Critics have their doubts. The Ministry of Health issued guidelines three years ago prohibiting smoking in places like hotels and restaurants only to have them routinely flouted because they aren’t “strictly enforced,” according to Xinhua . The Chinese Association on Tobacco Control notes that about half the country’s 300 or so cities have ordinances restricting smoking. Guangzhou, the capital of Macau’s neighboring province of Guangdong—the casinos’ second-largest single feeder market after Hong Kong—has one of the strictest. The deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Guangzhou Municipal People’s Congress saw the effects for himself when he showed up at the city’s main bus In Focus