The five largest cigarette consuming nations are China, Indonesia, Russa, US and Japan. (Tobacco-Free Kids, 2018) Cigarettes manufactured in Indonesia are unique to the sales market being a blend of tobacco and cloves, made from a spice that makes a smooth blend and aroma of cigarette. The city called Bandung, Southwest of Java Indonesia, places second in the tobacco industry of “prevalence’s” of familiarity/acceptance in Southeast Asia.  

In the early ’90s, households were spending more money on tobacco then they were in household goods, such as food, clothing, footwear, most importantly, medical and education. In the early ’70s study shows that a population of 49% or males and %5 of females within the Java area show that smoking starts from – 15 years of a younger age, 50% of men doubled to 80% by the ’90s, the rates were likely to increase by another 63% due to the population of smokers being brought up within these areas of young smoking families. (CATHERINE REYNOLDS 1999)

The age standard is stating at 15years of age which is made up of 39.5% In 1985 a Jakarta study found that 49% of boys and 9% of girls aged 10–14 were daily smokers. World Health Organisation. While the legal minimum age for smoking in Indonesia is 18 years old, the industry remains mostly unregulated, particularly in more remote parts of the county. (ABC, Tasha Wibawa, 2019) Among these studies, it shows that smoking was inversely related to education. Those who had completed high school or college training were less likely to smoke. 

About 80% of the world’s smokers live in low – middle-income countries. Tobacco in Indonesia’s government is the largest source of revenue it has not only fueled by affordability which plays a crucial role in its economy, In 2018 cigarettes brought 153 trillion rupiah, nearly 96% of the national excise total, Being 10% of the government’s revenue. (ABC, Tasha Wibawa, 2019) 

The Indonesian political cycle has made it difficult to see the long-term effects and economic cost of cigarettes, instead it priorities the yearly economic gains, Mr Ahsan said. 

The highest tax revenue is obtained in Bandung, West Java which is the highest smoking prevalence in Indonesia. While smoking is a leading cause of death in Indonesia, Tobacco consumption can kill more than 7 million people every year; at least 214,00 people die each year in Indonesia, approximately 19% male and &% Male. 

Indonesia has introduced a concept on cigarette tax called Earmarking Tax, and this can be a beneficial government tax where the revenue from a particular tax is kept separate from general revenue, Tobacco tax is one of the efforts to control tobacco use. (Robert Carling 2007) The study states it has a favourable impact taxes are used to control tobacco, health promotion and health-related activities. ( Jurnal Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politik, 2019) 

Australia, Brazil, and other countries that have implemented the most advanced tobacco control laws globally are almost entirely offset by the increasing consumption in many countries with weaker tobacco control regulations. The Tobacco Atlas 2019, Drope J, Schluger N, Cahn Z, Drope J, Hamill S, Islami F, Liber A, Nargis N, Stoklosa M. 2018. The Tobacco Atlas. Atlanta: American Cancer Society and Vital Strategies https://tobaccoatlas.org/topic/consumption/ 

The study states 'to reduce worldwide smoking prevalence by 30 per cent in 2025, countries are exhorted to fully implement the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).' The World Health Organization's first public health treaty calls on countries to implement proven strategies to reduce tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, 100 per cent smoke-free laws, ample, graphic health warnings, and comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorships. (Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance 2016)

World Health Organisation. Tobacco or health: a global status report—Indonesia. Geneva: WHO, 1998. 

Tabacco Control 1995, Prevalence of cigarette smoking in rural area of West Jave, Indonesia, online publication, Viewed on 27 November https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/tobaccocontrol/4/4/335.full.pdf

Jurnal Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politi, Volume 23, Issue 1, July 2019 (45-58), The Implementation of Earmarking Tax policy on Cigarette Tax in West Jave Province, Online article, Viewed online 27 November, https://jurnal.ugm.ac.id/jsp/article/view/41485/pdf 

Robert Carling 2007, Tax Earmarking Is It Good Practice? online booklet, viewed on 20 November, https://www.cis.org.au/app/uploads/2015/07/pm75.pdf

The Tobacco Atlas 2019, Drope J, Schluger N, Cahn Z, Drope J, Hamill S, Islami F, Liber A, Nargis N, Stoklosa M. 2018. The Tobacco Atlas. Atlanta: American Cancer Society and Vital Strategies https://tobaccoatlas.org/topic/consumption/ 

Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance 2016, Online article, Viewed on 23 November, https://seatca.org/ctfk-worlds-largest-tobacco-use-study-shows-vast-scope-of-tobacco-epidemic/ 

Click to access 89.full.pdf

http://www.healthdata.org/research-article/global-burden-diseases-injuries-and-risk-factors-young-people%E2%80%99s-health-during-1990

Approximately one third of the world’s population partakes in smoking, with the top 3 countries being China, India and Indonesia. Surveys have shown that 62% of men and 1-3% of women are smokers nationwide (Nichter et al. 2009) and this high number is often the cause of highly aggressive advertisements from tobacco companies targeting Indonesia. The Government of Republic of Indonesia is one of the few countries who have still not sanctioned the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) despite encouragement from the World Health Organisation (WHO) (Sumartono et al. 2011). The government reaps the economic benefits from the selling of cigarettes so there is little incentive for them to discourage tobacco use (Ganiwijaya 1995), thus the lack of tobacco regulation at a national level. Therefore, as a highly diverse country made up of many cultures and subcultures, further research into specific areas is required to tackle the tobacco issues and its stems.

 
A tobacco cessation initiative called Project QTI has been working on developing messages which denormalise a smoking society. This initiative is concentrated in Java, a politically and economically dominant island of Indonesia containing more than half of the nation’s population. In a cross-sectional study of 15 to 17-year-old students in Java, 55.6% of the male students were current smokers (Skulberg, Hamid & Vaktskjold 2019). The study has found that the probability of active smokers was 7.4 times higher in public rural schools than public schools in town (Skulberg, Hamid & Vaktskjold 2019).

 
In group discussions conducted with 50 teenage boys in the Purworejo District in Central Java, representing rural villages and urban settlements, the non-smokers perceived there to be few smokers around them, whilst the smokers felt that ‘everybody smokes’ (Ng, Weinehall & Ohman 2008). Moreover, tobacco was tied into their traditional ceremonies and gifted during such events. They were also smoked during social gatherings – and this is a case of the tobacco industry reading and working with Javanese culture as a means to sell cigarettes.

The boys used words such as ‘a steady life’, ‘pleasure’, ‘good taste’, ‘feel so rich’ and ‘impressive’ to describe smoking. Also, depending on the cigarette brand, they felt that they could increase their social status to feel more confident, mature and richer amongst their peers (Ng, Weinehall & Ohman 2008). This focus on popularity is in contrast to adult males, who often rely on cigarettes to demonstrate responsibility and willpower (Nichter et al. 2009).

 
Going back to Project QTI, the anti-tobacco intervention, Javanese ideals of strength and moral identity are tapped into, to encourage men to have the strength to part with the harmful habit of smoking. This is most similar to Ramadan, in which one challenges oneself to control desires such as hunger, thirst and sleep. These cases demonstrate the importance of gender-specific intervention when it comes to tobacco regulation. A relatively young population compounded by the high prevalence of smoking among males (Sumartono et al. 2011) provides further reason for Indonesia to avoid economic health care consequences by ratifying the FCTC to implement measures for a smoke-free society as the norm.

References

Ganiwijaya, T., Sjukrudin, E., De Backer, G., Suhana, D., Brotoprawiro, S. & Sukandar, H. 1995, ‘Prevalence of cigarette smoking in a rural area of West Java, Indonesia’, Tobacco Control, vol. 4, no. 4.

Ng, N., Weinehall, L. & Ohman, A. 2008, ‘If I don’t smoke, I’m not a real man’- Indonesian teenage boys’ views about smoking’, Health education research, vol. 22.

Nichter, M., Padmawati, S., Danardono, M., Ng, N., Prabandari, Y. & Nichter, M. 2009, ‘Reading culture from tobacco advertisements in Indonesia’, Tobacco Control, vol. 18.

Skulberg, K.R., Hamid, S. & Vaktskjold, A. 2019, ‘Smoking Among Adolescent Males at Pulau Weh, Indonesia’, Public Health of Indonesia, vol. 5, no. 3.
Sumartono, W., Sirait, A.M., Holy, M. and Thabrany, H. 2011, ‘Smoking and Socio-Demographic Determinant of Cardiovascular Diseases among Males 45+ Years in Indonesia’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 8.

Advertising is the key to selling any product and the indonesia tobacco industry is no exception, a range of mediums are used over the archipelago in an effort to coerce consumers into purchasing a product. Kedaulatan Rakyat is a daily newspaper publication based in Yogyakarta with a circulation of 125,000 copies split between print and digital form. Dyna Herlina Suwarto Nurhidayati Kusumaningtyas analysed and conducted research deconstructing the advertising and the messages appearing in the publication.. This research was produced in an effort to aid efforts in counter cigarette advertising. It’s important to note that tobacco companies in Indonesia do not compete in price per unit but rather but rather rely on a bombardment of emotional advertising.

It found that 45% of advertisements depicted models and of these the majority were middle class Javanese males, the main approach used by companies was transformational advertising – consuming the product will result in a positive increase of physiological characteristics (Christopher, 1984). Young people ages 10-19 in Yogyakarta make up a massive 17.6% of the population, many of whom are at risk from these advertisements. But this is not just specific to the region, rather occurs all over the archipelago.

Yayi Suryo Prabandari and Arika Dewi’s cross section in youth cigarette advertising found that “cigarette advertising and promotional messages are targeted at youths”. Leading me to believe that youth advertising is a crucial way to create customers for tobacco. But this is not just in Yogyakarta; “In Jakarta. 99.7 % of teenagers see cigarette ads on television; 86.7% of all teenagers see cigarette advertising in outdoor media space; 76.2 % of all teenagers see cigarette ads in newspapers and magazines and 81% of teenagers have attended events sponsored cigarettes” (Kusumaningtyas, 2015) . 

So the youth are heavily targeted in this advertising, this led me to investigate an example of one of these billboards that are heavily discussed in my research. This Advertisement was seen in Jakarta in 2012 by blogger Luke Regler and depicts a prominent english footballer Rio Ferdinand. Sports team sponsorship is a critical way for companies to engage a young audience.

Sebayang, S., Rosemary, R., Widiatmoko, D., Mohamad, K. and Trisnantoro, L. 2012, Better to die than to leave a friend behind: industry strategy to reach the young, Tobacco Control 2012, pp.370-372, viewed 24 November 2019, <http://ezproxy.lib.uts.edu.au/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.uts.edu.au/docview/1781954926?accountid=17095&gt;.

Rus’an Nasrudin & Ledi Trialdi & Djoni Hartono & Abdillah Ahsan, 2013. “Tobacco Economic of Indonesia: Poor Households’ Spending Pattern, Tax Regressivity and Economic Wide Impact of Cigarette Excise Tax Simplification,” Working Papers in Economics and Business 201302, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia, revised Mar 2013.

Christopher P. Puto and William D. Wells. 1988,”Informational and Transformational Advertising: the Differential Effects of Time”, in NA – Advances in Consumer Research Volume 11, eds. Thomas C. Kinnear, Provo, UT : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 638-643.

Regler, Luke. 2012. Rio Ferdinand promotes smoking in Indonesia! Personal Blog (WordPress)

http://al-terity.blogspot.com/2012/04/rio-ferdinand-promotes-smoking-in.html

In many scholarly literature, the findings and statistics on tobacco related topics are homogenised to a national level. ‘Our World in Data’ reported that Indonesia had one of the biggest gap between the amount of female and male smokers and one of the highest smoking rates worldwide; 40% of the population smoke and out of the smokers, 60% were men but only 4% were women (Aditama 2002, pp. 56). However, Indonesia is comprised of many islands and regions: culture and norms can be unique and vary therefore requires a further breakdown in order to tackle the tobacco problem.

Ng, Weinehall & Ohman (2007) suggests that the use of tobacco in the construction of masculinity explains the low statistics of female tobacco users versus high statistics of male users. This claim is further backed by the World Health Organisation. In conjunction with the nations gender norms involved with smoking, we must consider factors of socio-geography as another research conducted suggests regions of poverty have a higher tobacco usage rate in Indonesia (Kusumawardani, Tarigan and Schlotheuber 2018).

So why is Java extremely prone to high levels of Tobacco usage?

Firstly, the main tobacco plantation areas are situated in Deli (North Sumatra), Surakarta, Temanggung, Wonosobo and Kendal in Central Java, Yogyakarta and Besuki, Bojonegoro, Madura and Jember in East Java (International Labour Organisation 2019). People who are surrounded by tobacco and working for the industry are more likely to use it due to easy and cheap accessibility. The tobacco industry provides their source of income thus they favour it and are more likely to use it.

Secondly, there are apparent differences in education levels, opportunities and wealth distribution in Indonesia. The odds of smoking were “greater among adolescents with higher education as compared to those with lower education and adolescents in the poorest quintile had more than twice the odds of smoking compared with adolescents from the richest quintile” (Kusumawardani, Tarigan and Schlotheuber 2018) . Furthermore, high poverty rates in East, central and west Java reveals that children and adolescents are forced to work in these plantations rather than seeking further education.  

Javanese culture is considered more conservative thus gender roles and stereotypes may be more apparent. Males feel the need to smoke to fulfil gender roles.

References:

Aditama, T.Y. 2002, ‘Smoking problem in Indonesia’, Medical Journal of Indonesia, vol. 11, no. 1; pp. 56-65. <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274338251_Smoking_problem_in_Indonesia>.

Ng, N., Weinehall, L. & Ohman, A. 2007, ‘If I don’t smoke, I’m not a real man’- Indonesian teenage boys’ view about smoking’, Health Education Research, vol. 22, no. 6, pp. 794-804. <https://academic.oup.com/her/article/22/6/794/640787>.

Kusumawardani, N., Tarigan, I., & Schlotheuber, A. 2018, ‘Socio-economic, demographic and geographic correlates of cigarette smoking among Indonesian adolescents’, Global Health Action, vol. 11, no.1. <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5990951/>.

International labour organisation 2019, Child labour in plantation, viewed 27 Nov 2019. <https://www.ilo.org/jakarta/areasofwork/WCMS_126206/lang–en/index.htm>.

images:

Indonesia Investments 2016, Urban and Rural Poverty in Indonesia, viewed 27 Nov 2019. <https://www.indonesia-investments.com/finance/macroeconomic-indicators/poverty/item301>.

The tobacco and cigarette industry and Indonesia have had such a long history it has become intertwined with the culture of the country, being one of the biggest industries within Indonesia and the second largest in all of Asia just behind China it supplies 96% of Indonesia’s national excise total. What does this mean for the youth of the country, with the legal minimum age of smoking being 18 this has really no control over how easily tobacco and cigarettes are accessible to the youth of the country. The industry remains largely unregulated especially in remote farming areas where the production of large amounts of tobacco occurs and for this reason it can be easily obtained. In those areas children as young as 8 can buy a single cigarette from the road side house for a couple of cents.  It has been documented that one in five children aged between 12 and 15 smoke and have access to tobacco and cigarettes through family, their community village and their social circle.

To tackle this epidemic, we have to look at ways the youth and nation can be supported through other industries within the country. It is a known fact that direct tobacco advertising is still allowed, and the countries youngest generation are still exposed to this, they see it in shops, billboards, TV commercials and social media. The other major promotion is through sponsorship for music festivals and sporting events, because this money is available, local communities can support underprivileged schools and provide funding for poorer families in the area that are not provided for by their own National Government. This is why many refuses to change the current status quo and ignored the problems, many communities need this type of sponsorship to survive and the financial aid outweighs the health concerns.

Education is the second biggest change that needs to occur, they need to know and be given information about the harmful effects of smoking and change the idea that smoking is “cool” to smoking can “kill”. Advertising Models of this are beginning in the country for example, the Indonesians Heart Foundation’s “keren tanpa rokok” and “smoke-free agents” movement. However, having positive solutions in place without support from Government and government officials, limits the overall effect of the campaign.

In review living in an environment where smoking is the norm, it is not only the governments responsibility to change the concept that smoking is ok, it getting the information out and changing individuals mindset and stopping it before it gets out of control.

references

Nathalia. T 2018, ‘Disneyland for Big Tobacco’: how Indonesia’s lax smoking laws are helping next generation to get hooked, The Conversation, viewed on 27^th  November 2019, <http://theconversation.com/disneyland-for-big-tobacco-how-indonesias-lax-smoking-laws-are-helping-next-generation-to-get-hooked-97489&gt;.

Astuti. P, Freeman. B, 2018, ‘protecting young Indonesian hearts from tobacco’, the Conversation, viewed on 27^th November 2019, <http://theconversation.com/protecting-young-indonesian-hearts-from-tobacco-97554

Tobacco & Cigarette Industry Indonesia 2016, Indonesia-Investments, viewed on 27^th November 2019, <https://www.indonesia-investments.com/business/industries-sectors/tobacco/item6873>.

Meera. S 2017, Chain-smoking children: Indonesia’s ongoing tobacco epidemic, CNN health, viewed on 27^th November 2019, <https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/30/health/chain-smoking-children-tobacco-indonesia/index.html>.

Sohn. E, 2017, ‘What’s The Rate Of Smoking In The 13- To 15-Year-Old Crowd?’, NPR, viewed on 27^th November 2019, <https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/06/05/531045350/whats-the-rate-of-smoking-in-the-13-to-15-year-old-crowd

Wibaya, T. 2019, Tackling Indonesia’s smoking addiction a ‘double-edged sword’, ABC, Sydney, viewed 27^th  November 2019, <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-01/tackling-indonesias-smoking-addiction-harder-than-it-seems/11430638>.

images

Dhumieres. M, 2018, ‘the number of children smoking in Indonesia is getting out of control’, PRI, viewed 27^th November 2019  <https://www.pri.org/stories/number-children-smoking-indonesia-getting-out-control

Indonesia ranks as one of the highest countries for smoking and tops this in South East Asia, this can be credited to the fact that Indonesia has not ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and is one of the few countries to have not done so. The reasoning behind this is simply economical as their tobacco industry is one of the largest in the world, alongside the ingrained cultural significance it presently holds. Smoking is also a very gendered and almost performative action in Indonesia, as there is a very pervasive idea that smoking is ‘manly’; with non-smoking men being seen an ‘feminine’ by adolescent smokers (Ng, Weinehall & Ohman 2007).

A study conducted by Ng, Weinehall and Ohman in 2007 focused on rural regions to collect data on tobacco trends there, their focus area was Purworejo which is located in the south of Central Java. A similar study was also conducted in the capital of Central Java, Semarang. (Smet et al. 1999)Both of these studies produced results that indicate smoking is a bonding activity for male friendships and that they smoke the most in groups.  In another regional study conducted in Cibeureum in West Java (Ganiwijaya et al. 1995), they found that among the 13,863 people surveyed, 83.7% of the men indicated that they are current smokers and only 4.9% of the women indicated that they currently smoked. 

Generally speaking, in Indonesia, smoking is also a rite of passage for boys as it has been traditionally observed as a recognition of attaining manhood during circumcision ceremonies. This directly ties their concept of “masculinity” to smoking which has been indicated by the aforementioned studies. The tobacco industry does not help with the issue of smoking in young boys as ““loosies,” or single cigarettes, can be picked up for just a few cents and are often sold in stalls set up outside schools.” (Barclay 2017)

This is a map I developed that shows where the Tobacco stores and schools are in Yogyakarta based on information provided by google maps:

(addendum: travelling to Yogyakarta made me realise that tobacco is even easier to purchase and there are countless stores selling tobacco products which just goes to show how crucial primary research and mapping is when engaging with design for social change)

Despite the sale of cigarettes being banned to people under the age of eighteen, there is no penalty or punishment surrounding this and thus the rule is seldom observed. In addition to this, the tobacco industry has utilised advertisements which, while it claims do not target youth, clearly would be attractive to the demographic. The following advertisement by L.A. clearly encapsulates my point and serves as the conclusive piece for this post:

References:

Barclay, A. 2017, ‘In Marlboro’s last frontier, a smokers’ rights group is defending the “human right” to light up’, Quartz, 18 February, viewed 26 November 2019, <https://qz.com/913404/in-marlboros-last-frontier-a-smokers-rights-group-is-defending-the-human-right-to-light-up/>.

Ganiwijaya, T., Sjukrudin, E., De Backer, G., Suhana, D., Brotoprawiro, S. & Sukandar, H., 1995, ‘Prevalence of cigarette smoking in a rural area of West Java, Indonesia’ Tobacco Control, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 335 – 337.

LA Zone 2018, I Live Bold, video recording, YouTube, viewed 26 November 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQU_emK1WBA&ab>. 

Ng, N., Weinehall, L. & Ohman, A. 2007, ‘If I don’t smoke, I’m not a real man’—Indonesian teenage boys’ views about smoking’, Health Education Resource, vol. 2, no. 6, pp. 794 – 804.

Prabandari, Y.S. & Dewi, A. 2016, ‘How do Indonesian youth perceive cigarette advertising? A cross-sectional study among Indonesian high school students’, Global Health Action, vol. 9, no. 1, viewed 25 November 2019, <https://doi.org/10.3402/gha.v9.30914>.

Smet, B., Maes, L., De Clercq, L., Haryanti, K. & Winarno, R.D. 1999, ‘Determinants of smoking behaviour among adolescents in Semarang, Indonesia’, Tobacco Control, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 186 – 191.

Indonesia has one of the highest smoking rates in the world, and as the number of global smokers decreases, Indonesia’s tobacco industry continues to flourish.  Indonesia’s dependence on tobacco is not only because of its availability and affordability, but also because of its key role in the country’s economy.

It is not uncommon for children to smoke in Indonesia.  No matter where you go in Indonesia, you can see people smoking.  This is no accident. By the Indonesian government’s default, the global tobacco industry has used advertising, marketing, a mix of cloves and chocolate to turn Indonesia into a smoking addictive country and one of the most valuable tobacco markets in the world.

The end result is an imminent public health disaster.  According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Indonesia has the highest smoking rate among men in the world, at 67%, and the smoking rate among women is also increasing rapidly.  The impact is huge. According to WHO statistics, approximately 425,000 Indonesians smoke each year, which is close to a quarter of the country’s annual death toll.

Continue reading →