Alexis Tam denies U-turn on banning smoking in casinos

The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture has denied a U-turn on his stance on banning smoking in casinos. The position of Alexis Tam was clarified to the Portuguese-language newspaper Jornal Tribuna de Macau after Steve Wynn, founder and CEO of Wynn Macau, said that Mr. Tam was feeling ‘okay’ about allowing smoking lounges in casinos.
“The position of the government is clear and is demonstrated in the new law that was already approved in its first reading by the Legislative Assembly”, the office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture told JTM. Yet according to the newspaper, the office also stressed that the law, which was approved in the first reading, does not include an exemption for casinos.
However, the changes proposed by the government to the existing law on smoking have yet to go through the second reading and during this process it may be changed.
Last week, after presenting the financial results of Wynn Resorts for the second quarter of the year, Mr. Wynn said he was confident that the policy on smoking would change and allow smoking rooms in casinos.
“I was glad to see that they allowed the smoking rooms. There was no reason not to and Secretary Tam, who is very concerned about public health, finally felt as if it was okay to allow the smoking rooms to continue. And that is a good thing”, Mr. Wynn said.