POST D: The tobacco culture in Indonesia – Serious!

The tobacco and cigarette industry is one of the biggest industries in Indonesia, and also it is also the second largest tobacco marketing in Asia after China. There are 255 million population in Indonesia, almost two thirds of people consume products that related to tobacco even cost their 5 % – 7 % incomes, this shows that the scale of cigarette industry in Indonesia is really huge. The 10 % of the tax which is took by the government in Indonesia is also depending on the tobacco industry, therefore, they even want to expand the cigarette industry.

Apart from that, the rate of teenagers smoking is made me shocked, there are 20 % teenagers are smoking and the ages becomes younger and younger. However, although the industry encourages the economy of the Indonesia, the tobacco is threatening the health of residents seriously. Unimaginable, the poster child of Indonesia tobacco culture is a 2 years old boy, he smokes 40 tobacco every day. Based on the Basic Health Research of Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia (RISKESDAS), the prevalence of cancer is 10.9 % above 15 years old in 2018, this data is 7 % higher than 2013. And the head of Muhammadiyah Tobacco Control Center of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta Winny Setyoungroho said, one of the reasons for increasing smoking people is smoking and shirkemas shows the consumption of tobacco is increasing from 32.8 to 33.8 for 15 years old. In addition, most of Indonesia people are more like Kreteks, this is a kind of mixture which is tobacco and cloves, and this is become one of the biggest culture in this country, and it is shared between friends, or being a gift for teenagers even child. Therefore, it means the environment has a big influence for people, for example, especially for teenagers, they are easier to be affected, and if there is one person smoking then it will has a big possibility that people around him also start smoking. The serious phenomenon also encourage the MTCC of UMY of Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta, Central Java, East Java, and Muhammadiyah autonomy organizations to emphasized the ban of cigarettes.

The Yogyakarta in Central Java in Indonesia map to help learn the situated geographically, drawn by Zijiang Yang 2019

There are many data showed the serious of problems, but it is still has no tendency that the population of smoking will decrease. The rate of smoking in most countries has already decreasing, but the amount of people who is smoking in Indonesia and under 18 years old from 7.2 % increase to 8.8 %. So from the researching, although the tobacco will take many negatives, maybe it is the strength of cultures, Indonesian sill be really difficult to solve this serious problem.

Reference

Jack. E 2011, In Indonesia, rampant smoking begins early age, SFGATE, viewed on 26 November 2019, <https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/In-Indonesia-rampant-smoking-begins-at-early-age-2368349.php>.

Jon. E 2016, Antismoking Coalition Gives Big Tobacco a Fight in Indonesia, ASIA PACIFIC, viewed on 26 November 2019, <https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/01/world/asia/antismoking-coalition-gives-big-tobacco-a-fight-in-indonesia.html>.

Meera. S 2017, Chain-smoking children: Indonesia’s ongoing tobacco epidemic, CNNhealth, viewed on 26 November 2019, <https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/30/health/chain-smoking-children-tobacco-indonesia/index.html>.

Nathalia. T 2018, ‘Disneyland for Big Tobacco’: how Indonesia’s lax smoking laws are helping next generation to get hooked, The Conversation, viewed on 26 November 2019, <http://theconversation.com/disneyland-for-big-tobacco-how-indonesias-lax-smoking-laws-are-helping-next-generation-to-get-hooked-97489>.

Tobacco & Cigarette Industry Indonesia 2016, Indonesia-Investments, viewed on 26 November 2019, <https://www.indonesia-investments.com/business/industries-sectors/tobacco/item6873>.

Una 2019, Smoking Escalates the Prevalence of Cancer in Indonesia, UMY, viewed on 26 November 2019, <http://www.umy.ac.id/en/smoking-escalates-the-prevalence-of-cancer-in-indonesia.html>.

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