After spending half month stay at Java, Yogyakarta, keeping explore and research of the tobacco industry. I can feel that the tobacco industry has already become an integral part of Indonesia’s culture. It can be seen on the advertising billboard full of streets and ubiquitous smokers. But the biggest problem of Java is the environmental impacts, such as second-hand smoke and advertising impact.

Through researching the smoke-free public area Malioboro street, where is the centre of Java and the cultural centre of Java. I met Bowo and interviewed him. He is a 32 year old man who was born at Jogja. He start to smoke when he is 11 year old. I heard he began to smoke in such a young age was shocked even I already known there are a lots of youth smoker in Indonesia from the research data before the trip to Yogyakarta, which is about one million children under the age of 16 in Indonesia smoke, and one-third of Indonesian children try to smoke before the age of 10(Meyersohn & Harris 2011). I asked him, ‘why you start smoking, what effect you to start smoking’. Bowo said that he mother and father all smoking, but this is not the main reason he starts to smoke. What affects him to smoking is his friends ask him to taste the cigarettes. And told him smoking would make him look more refreshing as a man. I asked him whether he knows smoking might affect the lung and cause other health problems. And why he don’t try to give-up the behavior of smoking. He said ‘he know smoking is not good, but he can’t quit it as they will sit and gathering with their neighbors when they get off the work everyday’. According to the data from World Health Organization(2018), there are 14.7% people death because smoking. But there are only 9.5% daily smokers quit tobacco use every year. It can be seen, the behavior change as quit smoking are not really easy for Indonesian. Furthermore, I continue to chat with him about whether his children and wife smoking. He said he have 2 child. A ten year old daughter and a five year old son. Neither wife or children are not smoking. But his daughter have poor resistance that always cough because of bronchitis. From the CDC(2018), second hand smoke is no less harmful than first hand smoke. It also can cause lots of problem such as middle ear disease coronary heart disease and respiratory symptoms and impaired lung function etc.

CDC 2018, Health effects of secondhand smoke, smoking & tobacco use, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, viewed 19 December 2019, <https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/secondhand_smoke/health_effects/index.htm&gt;.

In conclusion, the problem of smoking in a large proportion of Indonesians is a difficult problem to completely solve in Yogyakarta. Because there are many different environmental factors in Indonesia. Not only cause by the streets advertisements,which is use to attract Indonesians to smoke, but Indonesian also smoke when they are have free time, and the influence of family smoking.

Reference lists:
Meyersohn, J. Harris, D. 2011, From age 2 to 7: why are children smoking in Indonesia?, ABC News, viewed 25 November, <https://abcnews.go.com/Health/age-children-smoking-indonesia/story?id=14464140&gt;.

World Health Organization 2018, Heart disease and stroke are the commonest ways by which tobacco kills people, Factsheet, Indonesia, viewed 19 December 2019, <https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/272673/wntd_2018_indonesia_fs.pdf?sequence=1&gt;.

CDC 2018, Health effects of secondhand smoke, smoking & tobacco use, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, viewed 19 December 2019, <https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/secondhand_smoke/health_effects/index.htm&gt;.