The battle against smoking in Indonesia continues to rage on. The extreme nature of the problem was first brought to international attention when in May of last year a video of a two-year-old from the western Indonesian island of Sumatra, astonished global viewers as it went viral. The video of the toddler chain-smoking has been viewed more than one billion times. The video of the boy smoking went viral as shock and outrage, mixed with utter curiosity that a toddler would be smoking. The video and story was no joke the child, Ardi Rizal, whose father claimed to give him his first cigarette when he was only 18 months old, was heavily addicted as he smoked up to some 40 cigarettes a day. The child has now been treated for his addiction and currently remains under the care of the country’s child protection commission.
Sadly the truth behind the story was even more shocking and utterly disturbing According to the Indonesian Health Ministry’s 2008 health profile, 29 percent of Indonesians aged 10 and above smoke an average 12 cigarettes a day. Some 10 percent started smoking at between 10 and 14 years while 0.1 percent started as young as five, according to the report, which was released in 2010. These increasingly growing statistics have now left Indonesia with a higher percentage of adolescent smokers than any country across the globe. Smoking in Indonesians has become a cultural norm as they are the world’s third largest consumer of cigarettes, with 33percent of Indonesians smoking.
Dimas Riyadi, a 15-year-old street child, said smoking helped him to mix with his peers. “All my friends smoke so it’s natural that I smoke too,” said Riyadi, who makes a living doing street performances for motorists at a busy intersection in the centre of the capital, Jakarta. “I have not been sick because of smoking,” he added. (IRIN)
In Indonesia tobacco companies are free to target advertisements to any audience and manner they choose as there are no regulations, unlike the United States. Many Tobacco companies sponsor scholarships for youth, popular sporting events, and even concerts aimed towards children. Though there has been some working to lobby for bills banning certain types of cigarette advertising in the country, they have had little success due to the heavy opposition and strong hold of the tobacco industry.
Along with the battle against the tobacco companies’ advertisement, the economic disparity is significant in this country, with 21% of the population subsisting on less than US$1.25 per day. Individual cigarettes can be purchased for a couple of cents, and packs are only a dollar.
