Smoking mad at Persahabatan

Smoking mad at Persahabatan

I am enraged by the number of smokers loitering about and
fouling the air in the hallways and corners of Persahabatan
Hospital in East Jakarta. It appears to me that not much has been
done to enforce the "no smoking" signs scattered everywhere on
the premises, maybe because the hospital has put its request very
politely: "Thank you for not smoking." So if some people do light
up, they face absolutely no consequences.

I asked, very politely, some smokers to kill their cigarettes.
They either grumblingly did so, went to find another spot where
they could continue undisturbed or lashed out at me. Upon hearing
my request that he tell off the smokers, one security guard
dismissed me by saying that the smokers never minded him and that
"it's no longer our problem".

The directors of the hospital should from now on make this
problem theirs. What's the point of promoting Persahabatan
Hospital as a top-notch center for lung disease treatment while
exposing patients to more poison? Most people in the place
already face enough difficulties (physical, mental and even
financial) without having to breathe polluted air.

SANTI W.E. SOEKANTO

Jakarta