Macau’s chief executive said on Wednesday that he plans to raise the minimum age at which a person can gamble to 21 years from the current 18.

The Standard said Edmund Ho Hau-wah revealed the plan to lawmakers, who were surprised because the Macau leader did not mention it in his policy address on Tuesday.

Ho did not say when he will start working on a law imposing the higher age requirement for gamblers.

The revelation drew mixed reactions. Leong On-kei, wife of casino tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun, said the proposed policy will reduce the number of casino players, though it will improve Macau’s image in the international community.

Hong Kong’s director of the industrial rehabilitation center for problem gamblers. Society for Truth and Light general secretary Choi Chi-sum also welcomed the move. Poon Yan-chi said Ho’s plan is a good thing.