Too many cigarette ads

As a foreigner who has spent a total of more than six months in Indonesia I feel the need to comment on the overwhelming presence of cigarette advertisements in this country. There seems to be no laws prohibiting the promotion of cigarettes as I am accustomed to in my country, Canada. The television advertisements are particularly sickening for me.

Generally, these ads fall into two groups. There is one type of ad which promotes cigarettes in a natural context. These ads imply that smoking cigarettes can somehow be equated with recreation in the wilderness.

To me, this is a laughable comparison. Undoubtedly, recreation can be better enjoyed when your lungs are not full of cigarette smoke and you can acutely appreciate the pure wilderness. It is also a scientific fact that smoking decreases one's ability to perform physical activity. So then, those people who are riding horses and rafting the river would be better off leaving their cigarettes at home if they really want to make the most of their outdoor experience.

The second type of ad is the type which has handsome men and beautiful women to promote the idea that cigarettes enhance romance. Wherever this idea came from is beyond my comprehension. Since when does a person whose breath stinks, whose teeth and hands are yellow, and whose clothes reek of smoke become someone who is sexually attractive?

Unfortunately, despite the fact that these ads seem ridiculous, it seems as though they are effective in getting Indonesians to buy cigarettes. The percentage of men who smoke here is quite high. It is my hope that the Indonesian government will realize that the social costs of smoking far outweigh any revenues that the industry may bring to this country.

When all the lifetime smokers start to become sick with cancer and other lung-related illnesses, it is not only the individual that will suffer. Society as a whole has to pay for this. It is time the government started to implement some laws that slow the promotion of cigarettes in this country.

SHANE RULJANCICH

Castlegar, Canada