Expert, texpert, choking
smokers, don’t you think the joker laughs at you?
John Lennon
Today, the last day of 2016, I find myself in the rather delightful environs of Frigg Cake, a somewhat upmarket establishment located in the ‘Coffee Village’ of Dongguan, an area just off the main square that seems to consist of twenty or so coffee shops and suchlike. I had a rather pleasant stroll over here this morning meeting, en route, my favourite security guard. Last year, his English lexicon consisted of the words ‘I love you!’ which he would say every time I passed his booth. In the last nine months or so, he has enlarged his vocabulary by some 25% to include the word ‘f***’. These days, instead of greeting me with the overwhelmingly positive ‘I love you’ all I get is ‘f*** you’, to which I normally respond ‘f*** you too’ followed by a high five. Such a pleasant start to a new day…
Pondering the name of this particular establishment, one hopes that the first word is meant in the sense of a noun, although it must be admitted that ‘Frigg’ is not a particularly common name in this part of China. At base though, I feel that all is fine and dandy as long as it is not meant to be used as a verb as the image thus conjured is perhaps just a little too disturbing to contemplate.
The music this time seems to consist of the very pleasant tones of Katie Melua and some gorgeously nostalgic Ink Spots numbers, both of which are far more welcome to my delicate ears than the usual raucous racket they tend to play in such establishments as this in China. The main reason for choosing Frigg Cake as my haunt for today is the strict ban imposed on smoking in these premises. After suffering much in my usual watering holes of Hey!!! Cyber and Cochan, I decided enough was enough and to cease frequenting such pungent environments in favour of far more salubrious environments such as this.
The last few days have been a tad colder in South China and this has led to crowds of people turning up in the Cochan almost every member of which seemed to want to light up a cigarette. Now, personally, I have no problem if people wish to pay out their hard-earned lucre on ridiculously expensive packets of small, white, toxic sticks which they then intend to set light to in order to inhale noxious fumes from, thus imbibing a range of carcinogenic chemicals into their lungs causing all manner of damage... that is their prerogative. Far be in from me to interfere with other’s choices in such matters. The problem comes when this nihilistic and self-destructive indulgence is imposed on others, particularly on my not-so-good self.
Yesterday, I did endeavour to avoid the worst of the smoke by pulling up the neck of my fleece jacket to cover my mouth and nose. This had merely a negligible effect so I then switched on a nearby free-standing fan and directed its blast in the general direction of the smoking hordes, all to little avail though. The task was as hopeless as King Canute’s doomed attempt to turn back the North Sea, the plumes of exhaled cigarette smoke continued to waft in my general direction from the mouths and the cigarette tips of a multitude of impassively impervious smokers.
Unfortunately, Such situations are oft experienced in the Middle Kingdom, but there is some hope on the horizon. According to several news sources, the Chinese government are set to impose a nationwide ban on smoking in ‘public places’ and refreshment establishments from the 1st January 2017. Given the imminence of this deadline and the complete, profound and utter indifference of the smokers here, one would imagine something, as the saying goes, has to give.
Up to now, even though well aware of the damage being done, the Chinese government have been very reluctant to address this problem. Some cynics say that this is because smoking is such a huge source of revenue for said government, the smokers coughing up huge sums each year, that any desire to stub it out has been overwhelmed by the greater desire to continue to tax the 350 million or so smokers in this country. The temptation for the government not to act is actually twofold here, as they not only take the taxes but, amazingly, they also produce the cigarettes in the first place. China has a state owned tobacco monopoly known as the STMA. Since it was founded in 1982, everything involving tobacco including production, marketing, imports and exports has fallen under the jurisdiction of this monopoly.
China loses something in excess of one million people each year to smoking. It seems to this flaneur to be something of a strange situation when a people’s government has been so actively involved in making a huge profit out of the deteriorating health, and even the deaths, of its own population. The good news now though is that it now seems that they have finally turned over a new leaf. After many ifs and butts, and many attempts to endlessly drag out the process, the government have finally decided to attempt to extinguish the habit, at least to some extent.
One cannot help but wonder though, given the ubiquity of smoking here, and the quite blatant insensitivity of the smokers, just how effective this ban will be. Personally, I wouldn’t hold my breath… Like so much legislation here, it is one thing to pass the law, quite another for that law to be enforced. I have been in many a café now where signs are displayed quite prominently but are completely ignored by the recalcitrant smokers. In a police station recently I was pleased to see a large and very clear ‘no smoking’ sign above the counter. I was not quite so pleased to see however, immediately below said sign, a policeman puffing away without the slightest concern, apparently completely impervious to the theoretical strictures placed upon him.
China has many, many laws, those responsible for creating such things being quite active in their zeal to reshape society but, in practice, much of this legislation is just ignored by the general population. A few minutes in a taxi will very quickly demonstrate the completely laissez-faire attitude to the rule of law here. On the roads, the rules and guidelines are ignored to such an extent that one wonders why they bother at all. Seeing bikes, cars and even lorries coming the wrong way down a dual carriageway is not unusual here, if the driver of said vehicle feels he can take a short cut by acting in such a way then he will. The legal implications will not have even crossed his mind.
Given such an attitude, I am generally pessimistic about the effects of the smoking ban but...the next week will tell. I will happily apologise for my pessimism if I prove to be incorrect, but I fear no apology will be necessary.
Back in the Frigg Cake I continue to enjoy the lack of tobacco smoke and the generally pleasant atmosphere, even if the music has now gone over to a slightly more cacophonous jazz, it is still not as intrusive as the more commonly suffered rock. It is, admittedly, a tad more expensive here, but given a choice between paying a few more yuan for a coffee and having to imbibe second-hand smoke for two hours whilst I create one of these efforts, I think I will increasingly select the former.
John Lennon
Today, the last day of 2016, I find myself in the rather delightful environs of Frigg Cake, a somewhat upmarket establishment located in the ‘Coffee Village’ of Dongguan, an area just off the main square that seems to consist of twenty or so coffee shops and suchlike. I had a rather pleasant stroll over here this morning meeting, en route, my favourite security guard. Last year, his English lexicon consisted of the words ‘I love you!’ which he would say every time I passed his booth. In the last nine months or so, he has enlarged his vocabulary by some 25% to include the word ‘f***’. These days, instead of greeting me with the overwhelmingly positive ‘I love you’ all I get is ‘f*** you’, to which I normally respond ‘f*** you too’ followed by a high five. Such a pleasant start to a new day…
Pondering the name of this particular establishment, one hopes that the first word is meant in the sense of a noun, although it must be admitted that ‘Frigg’ is not a particularly common name in this part of China. At base though, I feel that all is fine and dandy as long as it is not meant to be used as a verb as the image thus conjured is perhaps just a little too disturbing to contemplate.
The music this time seems to consist of the very pleasant tones of Katie Melua and some gorgeously nostalgic Ink Spots numbers, both of which are far more welcome to my delicate ears than the usual raucous racket they tend to play in such establishments as this in China. The main reason for choosing Frigg Cake as my haunt for today is the strict ban imposed on smoking in these premises. After suffering much in my usual watering holes of Hey!!! Cyber and Cochan, I decided enough was enough and to cease frequenting such pungent environments in favour of far more salubrious environments such as this.
The last few days have been a tad colder in South China and this has led to crowds of people turning up in the Cochan almost every member of which seemed to want to light up a cigarette. Now, personally, I have no problem if people wish to pay out their hard-earned lucre on ridiculously expensive packets of small, white, toxic sticks which they then intend to set light to in order to inhale noxious fumes from, thus imbibing a range of carcinogenic chemicals into their lungs causing all manner of damage... that is their prerogative. Far be in from me to interfere with other’s choices in such matters. The problem comes when this nihilistic and self-destructive indulgence is imposed on others, particularly on my not-so-good self.
Yesterday, I did endeavour to avoid the worst of the smoke by pulling up the neck of my fleece jacket to cover my mouth and nose. This had merely a negligible effect so I then switched on a nearby free-standing fan and directed its blast in the general direction of the smoking hordes, all to little avail though. The task was as hopeless as King Canute’s doomed attempt to turn back the North Sea, the plumes of exhaled cigarette smoke continued to waft in my general direction from the mouths and the cigarette tips of a multitude of impassively impervious smokers.
Unfortunately, Such situations are oft experienced in the Middle Kingdom, but there is some hope on the horizon. According to several news sources, the Chinese government are set to impose a nationwide ban on smoking in ‘public places’ and refreshment establishments from the 1st January 2017. Given the imminence of this deadline and the complete, profound and utter indifference of the smokers here, one would imagine something, as the saying goes, has to give.
Up to now, even though well aware of the damage being done, the Chinese government have been very reluctant to address this problem. Some cynics say that this is because smoking is such a huge source of revenue for said government, the smokers coughing up huge sums each year, that any desire to stub it out has been overwhelmed by the greater desire to continue to tax the 350 million or so smokers in this country. The temptation for the government not to act is actually twofold here, as they not only take the taxes but, amazingly, they also produce the cigarettes in the first place. China has a state owned tobacco monopoly known as the STMA. Since it was founded in 1982, everything involving tobacco including production, marketing, imports and exports has fallen under the jurisdiction of this monopoly.
China loses something in excess of one million people each year to smoking. It seems to this flaneur to be something of a strange situation when a people’s government has been so actively involved in making a huge profit out of the deteriorating health, and even the deaths, of its own population. The good news now though is that it now seems that they have finally turned over a new leaf. After many ifs and butts, and many attempts to endlessly drag out the process, the government have finally decided to attempt to extinguish the habit, at least to some extent.
One cannot help but wonder though, given the ubiquity of smoking here, and the quite blatant insensitivity of the smokers, just how effective this ban will be. Personally, I wouldn’t hold my breath… Like so much legislation here, it is one thing to pass the law, quite another for that law to be enforced. I have been in many a café now where signs are displayed quite prominently but are completely ignored by the recalcitrant smokers. In a police station recently I was pleased to see a large and very clear ‘no smoking’ sign above the counter. I was not quite so pleased to see however, immediately below said sign, a policeman puffing away without the slightest concern, apparently completely impervious to the theoretical strictures placed upon him.
China has many, many laws, those responsible for creating such things being quite active in their zeal to reshape society but, in practice, much of this legislation is just ignored by the general population. A few minutes in a taxi will very quickly demonstrate the completely laissez-faire attitude to the rule of law here. On the roads, the rules and guidelines are ignored to such an extent that one wonders why they bother at all. Seeing bikes, cars and even lorries coming the wrong way down a dual carriageway is not unusual here, if the driver of said vehicle feels he can take a short cut by acting in such a way then he will. The legal implications will not have even crossed his mind.
Given such an attitude, I am generally pessimistic about the effects of the smoking ban but...the next week will tell. I will happily apologise for my pessimism if I prove to be incorrect, but I fear no apology will be necessary.
Back in the Frigg Cake I continue to enjoy the lack of tobacco smoke and the generally pleasant atmosphere, even if the music has now gone over to a slightly more cacophonous jazz, it is still not as intrusive as the more commonly suffered rock. It is, admittedly, a tad more expensive here, but given a choice between paying a few more yuan for a coffee and having to imbibe second-hand smoke for two hours whilst I create one of these efforts, I think I will increasingly select the former.
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