Hong Kong residents should discourage smoking by staring down anyone who lights a cigarette in places where it is prohibited, suggested Loh Chung-mau, the city's health secretary.
Answering questions about how to create a tobacco-free city, he said people cannot expect the police to catch every smoker who flouts the rules.
In Hong Kong, the tightening of anti-smoking measures is currently being discussed.
Current rules prohibit smoking in restaurants, workplaces, closed public spaces, but also in certain open public places.
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After launching a public consultation on smoking reduction in Hong Kong, Chung-mau said that the public has a role to play in reducing tobacco and that the police have a tough challenge to catch smokers in the act.
This medical doctor pointed out that cigarettes are bad for the health of all city residents and that a "social culture should be developed so that people obey the law".
"When they see somebody smoking in an illegal place and no police can show up right away, then people can stare at that smoker," he says.
He suggests that smoking rules be enforced like etiquette while waiting for the bus.
"No one will say that the law should force people to wait in line.
"Our society is able to build a culture so that people will respect this rule, and that's why I hope that the whole society will also build a non-smoking culture."
Even when the police arrive at the scene, the crime may have already stopped, explains the professor, adding that then the officers cannot take any specific measure.
He also noted that law enforcement needs to be improved.
Violation of existing rules on smoking is fined 170 euros.
Among the new measures being considered by the Hong Kong government is a ban on people born after a certain year buying tobacco products, as well as a significant increase in the tax on a pack of cigarettes.
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