Tourism Board - Up in Smoke?

Yet another example of the paranoia that afflicts Hong Kong today.
A new leader for the Hong Kong Tourism Board is announced and, horror of horrors, he was taken from a cigarette company.
Reading our press today, you would think that the decision to employ Anthony Lau Chun-hon as the new CEO of the HKTB was absolutely the worst thing that could have happened to Hong Kong. Why, because he made a living working for a tobacco company.
Are we just so negative these days about almost everything that breathes (okay, so Hong Kong does have days where it is difficult to breathe - I rather fell into that one!!), that we cannot sit back rationally and ask ourselves what does Hong Kong need of its Tourism chief - and have we found the right candidate? It does seem so.
I am a non-smoker, to the point where I have never ever smoked. I don't like the habit and applaud every effort to make our society smoke-free, but come on, doesn't this gentleman deserve to be given the opportunity to demonstrate his ability, rather than being beaten before he gets here?