SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan commented on the proposed measures by Parliament to curb public drinking and the sale of alcohol and said that the Bill would result in an extreme shift for Singapore – “from one of the most lax regimes in the world with regard to alcohol sales and consumption, to being fairly restrictive". However, he added that "the Bill is long overdue; irresponsible drinking in a very liberal regime has created lots of disamenities, particularly in residential areas. Hopefully the whole notion of responsible drinking will kick in. Ultimately, you can't police the whole island at any one time, so you really need people to buy into why these changes are necessary. If there are better consumption patterns and habits, who knows, in a couple of years, you might see the regime relaxing a bit."