My name is Yama Farras. I am 19 years old. I study International Communications at Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta.

It is the year 2019, and Yama is in his first year of university. Still trying to navigate the waters of full time study, he relies on his group of friends he has already made to make the experience a little easier.

His campus UMY is a smoke free environment, but pretty much everyone thinks the warnings aren’t effective enough and it shows. Yama and his mates smoke quite abit in the parking lot and in any other private place around campus.

Oi oi oi, Yama put your smokes away, there’s a lecturer coming

He made it safely this time. If communications students get caught smoking on campus, they have to sign a form saying that they won’t do it again. It’s just like a warning really.

At home, Yama lives with his Father Desi, who has smoked for as long as he can remember, his mother Dania who he has never seen smoke, his 16 year old sister and his 12 year old brother.

Even though throughout school he learnt about smoking and its effects, Yama still feels the obligation to smoke, due to looking up to his father and the pressure from his friends.

I know it’s not good for me but there’s something about it I can’t help. It makes me feel relaxed when I’m stressed. It’s something to do with my friends when we hang out.

2021 comes around and the smoke free campus committee have really been turning things around. There are multiple murals around campus, a comic that goes out every month, and a noticeable change in mindset around the stigma of smoking.

A more subliminal approach has led to a better understanding of the effects of smoking, as the messages conveyed are subconsciously read and acted upon.

Something really good has happened the past 2 years. Me and some of the boys always have a look at those comics when they come out. Smoke free campus is starting to work. I also met the girl of my dreams. Her name is Riyan.

Fast forward another 2 years and Yama has experienced some of the biggest ups and downs in his life.

Between finishing uni and marrying Riyan, he was feeling on top of the world until lung cancer got the best of his father Desi.

I got thinking to those years back at uni and how I started to come around to the smoke free campus at the end. I feel like now is the right time to do something.

Over the next 3 years, Yama smoked extremely rarely, and only when he felt very pressured in social situations. He even began to refuse the pressure eventually.

2026 came around and Yama smoked the last cigarette he ever would. He and Riyan were expecting their first child, Mirza, who came into the world in 2027.

Another addition to the family arrived 2 years later, a beautiful girl by the name of Aming. It is around this time that Yama returned to UMY helping with their smoke free initiative in his spare time.

Motivated by his own change of heart those few years ago, Yama believes that he can help change the mindset, particularly of young men, in such a crucial part of their lives.

Wanting to build the family even more, Efran was born in 2032, as happy and healthy as can be.

Mirza is now 6 years old and has started to make the connections between seeing smoking on the street and watching forgeign movies on TV.

Hey Dad, how come you don’t smoke?

After Yama explained his story, Mirza promised he would never smoke. Inspired by his dad in protecting his mind, body and soul forever.

The year is 2039. Aming is now 10 years old and wants to be just like her Dad and go to UMY to study.

Yama’s continuous volunteering has made every Universitas Muhammadiyah campus successfully smoke free.

My name is Yama Farras. I am 19 years old. I study International Communications at Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta.

It is the year 2019 and Yama is in his first year of university. Still trying to navigate the waters of full time study, he relies on his group of friends he has already made to make the experience a little easier.

His campus UMY is a smoke free environment, but Yama doesn’t care to acknowledge it. He carelessly smokes in the parking lot and places around campus that maybe aren’t so hidden.

Oi, oi oi, Yama put your smokes away, there’s a lecturer coming.

Except Yama doesn’t care. He’s already on 3 warnings, but the warnings are the only punishment, so he sees no real repercussions.

At home Yama lives with his father Desi, who has smoked for as long as he can remember, his mother Dania who he has never seen smoke, his 16 year old sister and his 12 year old brother.

Even though throughout school he learnt about smoking and its effects, he never paid attention. Yama feels the obligation to smoke, due to his father and the pressure from his friends if he didn’t.

It’s probably not even that bad for me and everyone does it anyway. All the people I know who smokes are fine.

2021 comes around and the smoke free campus thinks they have turned things around, except Yama and his friends still aren’t on the same page. The small no smoking signs and the insignificant repercussions have little effect on Yama’s mindset.

They keep on trying and trying but this no smoking thing is never going to work. It doesn’t matter though, I don’t need to quit because my girlfriend Riyan is all I need.

Fast forward another 2 years and Yama has felt some of the biggest ups and downs in his life.

Between finishing uni and marrying Riyan, he was feeling on top of the world until lung cancer got the best of his father Desi.

I mean I know I should quit. I no longer remember a time when I didn’t smoke. It just helps I guess.

Over the next 3 years, Yama smoked occasionally at home, but whenever he got the opportunity to smoke socially he would.

2028 came around and the pressure of his first year of fatherhood became a little too overwhelming, leading to him finding comfort in smoking regularly again.

Another addition into the family arrived in 2029. A beautiful girl by the name of Aming. During this time he becomes a workaholic and avoids spending time at home. His days working as a political risk analyst is spent surrounded by a cloud of smoke.

In attempts of filling the house up more, Yama and Riyan began trying for another child. However this proved difficult.

They discovered that due to the passive second hand smoke that Riyan has been surrounded by throughout both her child and adulthood, the chances of conceiving another child would be slim.

The arguments that Yama and Riyan would have about the affects of his smoking began to take effect on the children. Mirza especially.

A happy surprise came along in 2032, as Efran was born.

He filled the house with such joy, for only one short year.

Yama I think its time to stop. Your time was cut short with your father, think about Mirza and Aming. I beg of you.

Acting out for attention, Mirza would rebel and not come home from school for hours after it finished. He would sometimes smoke with his friends after school if they happened to find or steal cigarettes. He’s only 8 years old.

The year is 2039. Yama comes home heartbroken. Cancer in the lungs. His time with his wife and children will be cut short.

His name was Yama Farras. He was 38 years old.

This parallel journey of Yama is not only a story. It is a speculative design tool that can be used to design in this future landscape. Through the trials and tribulations of both the utopian and dystopian version of his stories, explored are the possibilities of the future.

It was presented as part of a global design studio conducted by design students of the University of Technology Sydney, based in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, as an effort to solve the wicked tobacco problem.