Indonesia still haven for smokers<\/p>\n
The cigarette industry is one of the most lucrative businesses
\nin the country. It provides the government with huge revenue in
\ntaxes and absorb millions of workers. Yet, we all know there are
\nnegative sides to tobacco, especially its harmful effects on our
\nhealth.<\/p>\n
In conjunction with No Tobacco Day today, The Jakarta Post's
\nRita A. Widiadana and Stevie Emilia prepare a series of articles
\non the issue.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): If you are a chain smoker, and happen to light a
\ncigarette in one of the high-rise office buildings in Jakarta,
\nyou may find people staring or even scolding you.<\/p>\n
You may also lose your freedom to smoke as soon as you enter a
\nfamily restaurant where children hang around or public facilities
\nlike hospitals and airport waiting rooms with no-smoking signs on
\ntheir walls.<\/p>\n
But don't worry, smoking is banned only in a very few public
\nplaces. You will still find Jakarta and other cities in Indonesia
\nhavens for smokers.<\/p>\n
In a smoking and tobacco-friendly city like Jakarta, the smell
\nof clove and filtered cigarettes fills almost all city buses,
\npublic parks, shopping centers and even school classrooms.<\/p>\n
In the city's more affluent hangouts like exclusive business
\nclubs, five-star hotels' lobbies and cafes, the rich freely enjoy
\ntheir Cuban cigars, a growing trend among young professionals and
\ncelebrities, at least until the economy collapsed.<\/p>\n
Even today, when the World Health Organization (WHO) and
\nantismoking campaigners are persuading smokers around the globe
\nto stop polluting the air, people in the capital here are largely
\nunaware of this appeal.<\/p>\n
This year's May 31, declared No Tobacco Day, is likely to go
\nunnoticed by most across the country except for a small group of
\nlocal antismoking activists.<\/p>\n
Most Indonesians still see smoking as a sign of maturity,
\nachievement and sophistication, ignoring harmful health
\nconsequences from heart diseases, asthma and lung cancer to
\nimpotence and premature ejaculation.<\/p>\n
These attitudes ranked Indonesians as the world's fourth least
\naware smokers in 1996, after China, the United States and Japan.<\/p>\n
The habit of smoking among people here is supported by a
\ndistressing fact, revealed by the University of Indonesia's
\nMedical School, that the country's average annual tobacco
\nconsumption per capita was 1.4 kilograms or 266,000 tons of
\ntobacco in the early 1990s. In 1996 Indonesian smokers consumed
\naround 190 billion cigarettes.<\/p>\n
According to World Bank calculations, every 1,000 metric tons
\nof tobacco consumed causes about US$27.2 million (Rp 300 billion)
\nin economic losses.<\/p>\n
The national breakdown of cigarette consumers reflects a
\nshocking situation. A 1994 survey by Anwar Yusuf, now chairman of
\nthe National Antismoking Forum, said that 12.8 percent of fifth
\nand sixth graders were smokers. In another study he conducted
\nthat year, 41.5 percent of 1,000 adults surveyed had begun
\nsmoking when they were between 15 and 22 years of age.<\/p>\n
The number of smokers has been steadily rising in the country
\nwith the most significant increases among minors and women.<\/p>\n
Second-class<\/p>\n
In developed countries like the United States, smokers are now
\nbeing treated as second-class citizens and nonsmokers are
\nstrongly protected by the law. Meanwhile, nonsmoking people
\nacross Indonesia are still minorities whose collective voice has
\nyet to be heard.<\/p>\n
Antismoking campaigns, launched almost 10 years ago, have
\nproven ineffective, while lobbies to push the government to
\nstrictly enforce laws on smoking and cigarettes have been
\nfruitless.<\/p>\n
The problem is worsened by the deluge of foreign cigarette
\ncompanies which aggressively sell their products in Asian
\ncountries, including Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Uton Muchtar Rafei, the WHO's regional chief in Colombo, Sri
\nLanka, recently said that \"Asia has the unhealthy distinction of
\nhaving the greatest variety of tobacco products. In some
\ncountries over 100 brands of cigarettes are available.\"<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, smokers are spoiled with abundant local and
\nforeign made cigarette products from Djamboe Bol, Minak Jinggo,
\nGudang Garam, Dji Sam Soe, Djarum, Bentoel to Dunhill, Marlboro,
\nCamel, Winston, Kent and Salem.<\/p>\n
The WHO says that tobacco exports have increased in Asia due
\nto the fact that there is lower consumption in the West where
\npeople are becoming more health conscious and because Western
\ngovernments have launched stiff measures against the tobacco
\nindustry.<\/p>\n
Mellisa Luwia, an antismoking activist from the Indonesian
\nCancer Society, said that it was very difficult to convince
\npeople to give up smoking.<\/p>\n
\"A very large number of people keep thinking that smoking is
\ntheir right although they realize that it is unhealthy,\" said
\nMellisa.<\/p>\n
She added that smokers often ignore the fact that other people
\nalso have the right to inhale clean and unpolluted air, free of
\nhazardous substances contained in cigarette smoke.<\/p>\n
A new study published by the British Medical Journal shows
\nthat living with a smoker is a major health hazard. The study,
\nquoted by Reuters, found that people who have never smoked
\n(passive smokers) have an estimated 30 percent greater chance of
\ndeveloping heart disease if they live with a smoker.<\/p>\n
Nonsmokers who live with smokers had increased concentrations
\nof tobacco-specific carcinogens in blood and urine. \"It is
\ntherefore to be expected that exposure to environmental tobacco
\nsmoke causes cancer and heart disease,\" the study revealed.<\/p>\n
Despite such exposure of serious health hazards from smoking,
\nthe Indonesian government seems reluctant to impose strict
\nregulations against smoking and the cigarette industry.<\/p>\n
\"We face an uphill struggle against smoking given the strong
\nlobby of the cigarette industry. The problem is so complicated.
\nIt not only deals with health but also business, legal and
\nemployment issues,\" Melissa said.<\/p>\n
The fact remains that the cigarette industry is considered one
\nof the most likely motors of the economic recovery. Exports and
\ntaxes on cigarettes bring in badly needed revenue.<\/p>\n
According to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, the
\ngovernment's revenue from taxes on cigarette sales amounted to Rp
\n4.033 trillion ($4 billion) in l996. This labor-intensive
\nindustry also absorbed no less than 4.3 million workers last
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Tulus Abadi, an executive of the Indonesian Consumers
\nFoundation, commented that the government is trapped in a very
\ndifficult situation.<\/p>\n
\"The government has to maintain the cigarette industry as a
\nsource of finance and jobs, but it must also solve overwhelming
\nhealth and social problems related to smoking,\" said Tulus.<\/p>\n
Mellisa added that it requires a strong political will from
\nthe government to regulate the cigarette industry and to protect
\nthe rights of nonsmokers.<\/p>\n
During the Soeharto era, such action was very difficult to
\ninitiate because the former president was renowned as an avid
\ncigar lover, she said.<\/p>\n
Clove trading and the taxes involved were also lucrative
\nsources of income.<\/p>\n
\"If president (B.J.Habibie) doesn't smoke, the current
\ncampaigns against smoking might probably get support from the new
\ngovernment,\" Mellisa said. (raw)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-still-haven-for-smokers-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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