Chapter 35 How far can the hand of the thirty-two government stretch?

MM, I smoke.I know you hate me for smoking, and I think it's a bad habit too.It started when I was about seventeen years old, but I don't know exactly how it started—because all my friends smoked?Too much homework stress?too boring?Or just to try to see what the adults say is not good?There may be more or less a little bit of each reason.Anyway, it turned out that I was addicted. My fellow smokers actually started earlier than me, most of them at the age of twelve or thirteen.I still remember that at that time I hated other people smoking, and I hated the smell.The most annoying thing is that when everyone is going somewhere, they always have to wait for the smoking guy to finish his cigarette in front of the trash can.In fact, to this day, I still don’t like smoking: my throat always feels uncomfortable, I catch cold easily, my clothes always smell of smoke, I get tired easily, and lung cancer is still waiting for me.

But what is there to say?It's not that I choose to smoke with free will and then lack the willpower to quit.If I had the willpower, I would have quit long ago.But still smoke.The reason is that every cigarette is a little rest and release.I like to leave my book, stand on the balcony, listen to a nice song in the earphones, and watch the big boat slowly passing by on the sea——light a cigarette.Of course, there is also the "a cigarette after dinner" that is "happy as a fairy", and the "cigarette after sex" that is indispensable in the movie footage.A cigarette, I would say, completes a good moment.

So for me, knowing that smoking is bad, but that is a personal free choice. Government Iron Man Lately, my free choice has been taken away.At midnight on January 1, 2007, Hong Kong banned smoking in public places.According to the government, in order to prevent second-hand smoke from harming the health of non-smokers, places where smoking is prohibited include parks, restaurants, schools, and bars. ． ． ． ． ．That includes my university of course. I'm not surprised at all.This is exactly what happened to my German high school two years ago.You know, German law stipulates that people over the age of sixteen are legal to smoke and drink alcohol, so most high schools have designated smoking areas where students smoke.But in 2004 the Minister of Culture of Hesse State pushed for a ban on smoking in schools, what happened?We had to walk the extra 500 meters to the sidewalks outside the campus to smoke.None of our classmates quit smoking, but the sidewalk outside the school has been covered with cigarette butts ever since.

Soon, all of Germany will ban smoking in public places.Therefore, in terms of smoking ban, Hong Kong and Germany are the same, but I have noticed a fundamental difference, that is, in Germany, before the ban on smoking in public places, there was a very extensive and long-term debate in society.Hong Kong does not have it. The government can basically do what it says. Moreover, the Hong Kong government seems to have a special function. As long as it wants to do something, it can shape it into a "one-of-a-kind" appearance. The Hong Kong government is simply an invincible iron King Kong.

If you ask me, am I unhappy with the no-smoking policy?Of course, because now I have to make a lot of detours to get a cigarette.But if you ask me, do I think the no-smoking policy is right?I would say, of course, nothing to say.I love a smoky bistro or bar because that's an inviting atmosphere.But I'm all for banning smoking in restaurants because the smell of smoke spoils the aroma of the food and I'd rather go outside to smoke.So all in all, banning smoking in public places is not a problem for me.But what I want to talk about is not the anti-smoking policy or Hong Kong’s strong government, because there is no universal suffrage, and there is nothing you can do about the government anyway.

media abandonment What I want to express to MM is that I feel very strange about the media in Hong Kong.There is no democracy in Hong Kong, but there is freedom. The independence and critical spirit of the media are still allowed, right?Whether smoking should be banned in public places has been debated in the German media for at least three or four years. Scholars, experts, and critics have repeatedly debated it among the whole people.There are also some discussions in the Hong Kong media, but very few and sporadic—of course, I am mainly talking about the two English-language newspapers; and, you know what?Discussions in Hong Kong have always remained at the "execution" level of the smoking ban: people who smoke will go to the sidewalk to smoke, whether the problem of second-hand smoke can be solved, how bars and restaurants can get "smoking licenses", and air pollution. Pollution will not get better.But I seldom see any serious discussion on "citizenship".At the core of the problem, no one seems to care: Should the government have such power to regulate the use of public space?Does the government have the right to "guidance" the people's way of life with such a high profile?Does the "majority" who don't smoke have the right to suppress the "minority" who smoke in this way?

Should the government take care of people who chew betel nuts?By analogy, people who don't brush their teeth, people who don't flush after using the toilet, people who always fart...does the government have to take care of it? I know that there are many people who hate smoking. I also know that smoking is harmful to health. I also know that smoking ban can bring a better air environment.But that's not the point, the point is, when a law that invades personal space so much and is so aimed at the underdogs (smokers are definitely "underdogs") is about to pass, you'd think the liberals in this society would protest loudly , vehemently disagreed, calling for debate.Strangely, not at all. MM, tell me, is there no "liberal" in Hong Kong?The comments I read are like a middle school student's composition: first a few positive sentences, then a few negative sentences, and then a soft, balanced summary.Where is the sharp criticism of the media?

collectively become stupid Writing in this way will make many Hong Kong people jump up.I don't really want to say how good Germany is at all - they screw up a lot.But as far as the media is concerned, each newspaper has its own critical position. On the issue of smoking bans in public places, the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the radical Berliner Zeitung will have completely different positions.I subscribed to the English-language South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, but returned it after reading it for a few weeks.What I want is a newspaper, with in-depth analysis and distinctive and independent comments on Hong Kong affairs, but I found that the content of the newspaper is basically the same as that of TV news, and most of them are just superficial reports.Then why don't I simply watch the TV news.

You might say that it is because of the long-term colonization, the lack of a democratic environment and literacy, so this happens.What I want to ask is, where does the change start?The colorful magazines and newspapers on the newsstands are mostly the secrets of the private lives of movie stars and entertainers, otherwise it is food, horse betting and celebrity fashion. MM, if the media does not maintain a highly critical spirit, a society can collectively become "stupid", right?What are the media in Hong Kong doing?I have seen that many Hong Kong people are working hard for universal suffrage, but the media still spends the most energy and money on gossip about movie stars.Why not use that energy and money to make some efforts for Hong Kong's democracy?Provide an open forum, stimulate public debate, challenge government decisions, and cultivate young people's independent critical spirit...God, stop discussing the size of the no-smoking area and how much the smoking license costs. There are too many things more important than this.Really annoying.

Andre