First of all, eateries should be suitable place for families to go to. For example, many families with young children will go to McDonald’s. No one wants to see young children playing with cigarette butts or breathing in cigarette smoke. It is undeniable that if people want to relax by lighting up a cigarette while enjoying their cup of coffee at their favourite cafes, they would be told that they can no longer have this pleasure as smoking is now illegal in all eateries, it will be very disturbing and annoying. However, those smokers can smoke at their home or other places themselves without affecting the others. It is not a must for the smokers to smoke in eateries so as to relax.

It is true to say that some businesses have many customers who smoke. Places such as restaurants and bars let people smoke while they are having a meal. The club-goers could usually light up a cigarette to go with their drinks. They will feel unhappy if they are told to put out their cigarettes as it is illegal to smoke in all eateries. Those customers would definitely spend less on their drinks and the bar owner would eventually end up the biggest loser. Many eateries will suffer and even lose their businesses. And in turn, this will harm the whole economy. However, they are not the only customers. Most of the people in Hong Kong care about their health. Eateries can still make profit from these non-smokers. Banning smoking in all eateries will not affect the businesses of the eateries seriously.

Everyone knows that smoking affects people’s health. Cigarette smoke can cause lung cancer and respiratory problems. Undoubtedly, we cannot ban one from smoking if they, themselves, do not care about their own health. However, as most of the eateries are air-conditioned, when someone smokes, the smoke will spread through the whole eateries via the ventilation system. Second-hand smokers will also have a great chance of getting cancer. This means that anybody who breathes in cigarette smoke is placing his or her lives at risk. Smokers are not only placing their lives at risk but also other customers’. There is no reason why other customers have to breathe in the cigarette smoke. Health risks of the public can be a very serious consequence of smoking.

To conclude, there is no doubt that the ban may affect the level of income for a few businesses. However, the majority of customers of eateries are non-smokers. If smoking is banned in all eateries, it will help to improve people’s health. Health is the most important thing for people. If you are healthy enough, you can do anything you want to do. Although we have to consider the economic stability when faced with the present economic recession, the economy will recover one day if our citizen are healthy and hard work enough.