Smoking ban in Indonesia

Why must be the penalty for smoking in public places be so extremely high in Jakarta? Fifty million rupiah is 10 times an average yearly salary, so if an average person get a fine for smoking he or she cannot feed his or her family for 10 years.

OK, you can make a deal, but this means corruption. An average fine outside of Indonesia for something similar is about 10 percent of a month salary. In my opinion a fine of Rp 50,000 is more acceptable for the average Indonesian.

FERNAND PETIE, Antwerp, Belgium