Smoking and coffee, the Acehnese way

Smoking and coffee, the Acehnese way

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post/Banda Aceh

A weary-eyed man sat inside his wet tent in the military complex
in the Mata Ie area, Banda Aceh, as his daughter cuddled beside
him. Smoke billowed from his thick cigarette while he sipped
black coffee.

Close by, several men sit about making almost similar
gestures: smoking cigarettes, drinking coffee.

"This feels good. It (smoking) somehow almost feels like
eating, you know, and coffee is the drink. During the first few
days after the tsunami it was tough to get cigarettes here, but
fortunately, those days are over," 43-year-old Ilhamimi, who
smokes two packs a day, told The Jakarta Post.

In many refugee settlements, men are commonly seen smoking
heavily.

"Yes, men here really love smoking and drinking coffee. It's
like a package. But smoking is like the 'main course' because
they usually drink just a couple of glasses of coffee, but smoke
almost half a pack of cigarettes in just a single visit," said
Rosida, whose coffee shop is located across from the Al Faidzin
camp.

She said she could sell three cartons of mostly clove
cigarettes and countless glasses of coffee every day.

With most men in the camp losing virtually everything to the
tsunami, some nonetheless still manage to spare some of their
very limited cash to buy cigarettes.

"I like smoking. And after what happened, things have become
so stressful for me that in fact, I get a bit of relief from
smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee," laughed 60-year-old
Zainun, a refugee at the Al Faidzin settlement in Lampeuneurut,
Aceh Besar.

Some refugees are quite distressed that they do not have
enough money to buy cigarettes.

"Is there any possibility that cigarettes be included in the
relief aid?" quipped an Acehnese, Syafiie, with nods of agreement
from those around him.

As if to confirm their strong attachment to smoking, a paper
sign glued to a tree inside the TVRI compound now used as a
refugee camp says: Perempuan butuh pembalut, pakaian dalam dan
rok... ok -- originally meaning "women need sanitary napkins,
underwear and skirts". Someone, no doubt male, had added "ok"
after the word rok, changing the word skirt (rok) to cigarette
(rokok).