each of the three selected sites, one alcohol vendor was asked to act as gatekeeper for purposeful sampling. They selected eligible individuals, 18 and 75 years who were regular patrons of these three open-drinking places. The selected individuals were a subsample of those who took part in the quantitative assessment.

The gatekeepers were asked to explicitly consider the different educational and cultural backgrounds of the patrons in order to obtain maximum variation sampling. The demographic data of participants were reviewed throughout the recruitment process in order to ensure inclusion of different educational and cultural backgrounds. Exclusion criteria were: first-time patrons of the outdoor bar and being unable to converse in English or pidgin-English. The gatekeepers contacted existing patrons of the open-drinking places to identify those who could be interested inblood pressure measurement was also carried out as incentives.

The investigator encouraged participants to ask any other question that should be discussed. Participants' who answered with a nod were encouraged to verbalize their answers for the purpose of audio recording.

Immediately after all participants had left, the principal investigator (PI) and other co-investigators had a quick debriefing while the recorder was still running. All tapes and notes were labelled with the date, time and name of the group.

The interview was conducted by the PI and his research assistants (senior registrars in psychiatry), who had been involved in qualitative research. The PI had no relationship with the respondents prior to the interviews.

All interviewers received 3-day training before the commencement of the study, to ensure strict adherence to research protocols. The method