Cigarettes and employment

Cigarettes and employment

In the article entitled Cigarettes: License to kill for Rp. 27
trillion , (The Jakarta Post, March 27), Santi Soekanto asserts
that when Indonesians smoke Indonesian cigarettes, they enrich
certain people based in California.

I admit that lately the national self-esteem of Indonesia
might not be at its highest, but there is no reason to exacerbate
that by giving credit for the creation of Indonesia's most
successful, domestically-produced products to people living in
the United States. Kretek (clove) cigarettes were invented, and
are produced and smoked by Indonesians, and this amazing product
is something that each and every Indonesian can be proud of. Its
companies are some of the most venerable and respected, not just
in Indonesia, but also the world, and the industry itself
provides direct and indirect employment to over 10 million
people. Shame on Ms Soekanto for trying to take one of the
country's success stories away from it.

MARK HANUSZ, Jakarta