Despite the truthful sentence that lies on every cigarette package: “Smoking cigarettes is
harmful to health”, approximately 57 million people in Indonesia still risk their health
through the act of smoking. Out of all Indonesians, 63% of men and 5% of women are
reported as smokers, which coequal to 34% of the whole population of Indonesia
(“Smoking In Indonesia”). Regardless of the obvious health consequences involved, a lot
of people still persist on smoking. This is due to the social-standard of the ‘cool act of
smoking’, or due to peer and public pressure. More than 30% of Indonesian children
started smoking even before the age of 10. In 2010, a 4 year old Ardi Rizal from Sumatra,
made a global headline for smoking 40 cigarettes a day. Although smoking can be a very
challenging habit to break, it is ultimately an individual’s choice and responsibility to
commit whether or not they will continue to smoke. As a result, legalizing the purchase of
cigarettes to all ages, having the lowest tax on cigarettes around the globe, advertising of
cigarettes are the main causes of smoking in Indonesia, and the major effects include
nicotine addiction, respiratory ailments and lung cancer.
As of January 2012, there is no minimum age in Indonesia, for both smoking and
purchasing cigarettes. Although the government states that the legal age of smoking is 18,
the government of Indonesia does not impose the smoking policies strongly, so people
think it is legal for a child of any age to buy and smoke cigarettes. On June 2012, hotels,
restaurants, tourist attractions, healthcare facilities and schools are declared to be
smoke-free areas, in which people are not allowed to smoke.
According to an office clerk Andre Kuntaro, ”Smoking is a rite of passage here, if you
don’t smoke, it’s like you’re not Indonesian.” (qtd. in Hodal). Due to the fact that Indonesia
has one of the lowest tax on cigarettes around the globe, cigarettes are as cheap as nearly
ten-cents here in the United States. Statistics have shown that over 165 billion cigarettes
were sold in the country and half of Indonesia’s population survives on less than $2 a day,
with cigarettes being the second-largest household expenditure after food and water. This
way, students are able to buy individual cigarettes in kiosks near their school as the cost of
cigarettes are inexpensive. Although there’s a government ban on sale and advertising
tobacco in schools, tobacco companies still offer sponsorship to schools.
