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NIMPUNO: Should the Antismoking Law Leave Nonsmoking Jakartans Fuming?  

But just as we were settling down with our drinks, huge puffs of cigarette smoke wafted across our table. Behind us, three men slouched on two couches, chatting and smoking profusely. That, according to our pretty waitress, was the smoking area, right behind our chairs.

In 2005, after a lengthy debate, the Jakarta administration passed a bylaw on air pollution banning smoking in public places. I wondered how long it would take for this bylaw to be implemented?

In the food court at the apartment block where I lived, the smoke hung low during meal times, when it is hard to find an empty table. Once, I called the manager over and asked him if he was familiar with the law. He smiled politely and said: "If I ban smoking in this food court, the stall owners will protest because there won't be any customers." . . .

In Jakarta, it seems that restaurants and public places have taken a similar approach to the one once used by airlines in the days when smoking was allowed. Some will remember that as soon as the captain turned off the no-smoking sign after takeoff, most passengers lit up. Over time, passengers were segregated -- the cabin was divided into smoking (rear of the aircraft) and nonsmoking (forward) areas. Eventually, smoking was banned outright.

This is how Jakarta currently enforces its antismoking bylaw: restaurants are divided into smoking and nonsmoking areas. Until there is greater public awareness of the health issues involved and the government becomes serious about banning smoking in public places, patrons will have to inhale other people's smoke if they want to eat out, whether they like it or not.

Patrons have to inhale other people's smoke if they want to eat out, whether they like it or not

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Indonesia cigarette firms to pay 7 pct more '09 tax  

Indonesian cigarette firms will have to pay an additional 7 percent excise tax next year, the finance ministry said on Wednesday, as the government seeks to curb smoking in one of the world's largest tobacco markets.

A new ministerial decree, which will come into effect on Feb 1, 2009, will adjust the retail price range for cigarettes and increase tax costs by an average of 7 percent.

"The increase will vary, depending on the previous retail sales price," the ministry said in a document accompanying the decree, adding the policy was a gradual step towards simplifying the excise scheme.

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Cigarette Smoking Areas to Be Prepared 

TEMPO Interactive, Semarang:The implementation of the 2010 Provincial Regulation regarding Cigarette Smoking in Semarang will be followed by the construction of smoking areas in some government offices.

"So that non-smokers are not disturbed by smokers," said Central Java Health Services head, Hartanto, yesterday (30/11).

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LETTERS: MUI and anti-smoking laws  

Malls help enforce non-smoking ban  

The Indonesian Shopping Center Association (APPBI) will help the city administration enforce smoking restrictions by asking its members to provide smoking rooms on their premises.

Andreas Kartawinata, APPBI Jakarta chairman, said around 80 percent of APPBI members had smoking rooms.

He said he would send letters to the remaining members to encourage them to adhere to the regulation.

"Each shopping mall is different. We can't force them to follow the bylaw because constructing a smoking room can cost up to Rp 30 million (US$2,500). It's expensive."

He said a lot of money was needed to install exhaust fans, separate air-conditioning systems and seats for smokers.

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House, ulema push for anti-smoking laws  

The continued might of Indonesia's far-reaching tobacco industry is being questioned, with the House of Representatives and an influential ulema group calling for anti-smoking laws.

Legislator Atte Sugandi of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party said Monday a bill being pushed for deliberation by the House would curb tobacco-related advertising, promoting, sponsorships, production and sales.

"Once it is passed into law, there will be no retail cigarette sales for students," he said on the sidelines of a seminar on tobacco farmers.

The House will set up a special committee before the year's end to deliberate the bill, a move that has been delayed for three years.

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• Indonesia Islamic body to debate ban on smoking 

Indonesia's top Islamic body will debate whether to issue a fatwa banning Muslims from smoking when it holds a national gathering early next year, a senior official said on Monday.

Religious councils in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, had previously agreed to ban smoking by children and in public areas, but have not implemented this and stopped short of a total ban.

"Cigarettes are not forbidden but the impact of smoking that tends to dangerous could lead to them being forbidden," said Ma'ruf Amin, head of the fatwa division of the Indonesian Ulemas Council, known as MUI, after meeting cigarette makers.

He said the council had received requests for a ban that would be discussed at its meeting in January, although ulemas from East Java and North Sumatra were opposed to it.

Amin said care should be taken before issuing a ban because the Koran did not explicitly forbid smoking.

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Editorial: Raiding smokers  

We totally support the noble battle of several anti-smoking organizations against smokers who endanger the health, and even lives, of other people by smoking anywhere they like, including in legally prohibited areas.

But the NGOs' plan to conduct raids across the city, targeting law-breaking smokers is ridiculous. They have gone too far. They should drop the plan to act as "illegal" law enforcers. . . .

Therefore, Fauzi's plan to involve pressure groups from the civil society to stop smoking in public places should be supported as long as they are not authorized to carry out any law enforcement. We cannot rely on the government alone to carry out anti-tobacco campaigns because strong lobbies from tobacco industry will always try to block any government policies that are not in favor of the industry.

In this case, the role of anti-tobacco groups is important not only to warn people about the danger of tobacco to their health, but also to advocate government agencies to produce anti-tobacco regulations.

But such campaign will be a never-ending process and therefore, the city administration at least needs to consistently impose smoking bans on public places and punish violators to make sure that nonsmokers are well-protected from the hazardous substance of tobacco.

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• Government 'powerless' against tobacco giants 

The Indonesia Civil Society for Tobacco Control has demanded the government ratify the international tobacco convention to protect Indonesian citizens, especially young people, from smoking-related health risks and death.

The group, comprised of 132 politicians, activists and celebrities, accused the government of giving into the cigarette industry by continuing to delay the ratification.

Prominent businessman and founder of oil and gas firm Medco, Arifin Panigoro, said efforts to pressure the government to ratify the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) had been countered by the cigarette industry, which is influencing the government against ratification.

"This movement needs to be supported as we are dealing with a very powerful lobby and money from the cigarette industry. With their power, they absolutely have the capacity 'to approach' the government," he told a press conference here Wednesday.

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Bali flooded with black-market cigs 

Ngurah Rai customs officers are currently hunting a suspect who allegedly plays a central role in the distribution of tens of thousands of cigarette packets with counterfeited excise tax stickers in Bali. The suspect, identified only as DL, is believed to be in Malang, East Java.

So far investigating officers have arrested four other suspects in the case.

One of the responsibilities of the Customs and Excise Office is the collection of taxes from cigarette companies. It does this by exclusively printing and issuing excise stickers that cigarette companies must purchase for each individual pack produced.

The investigation began after custom officers noticed the widespread circulation of cigarettes without excise tax stickers in September. The packets, found in a Papuan traditional market in Tabanan regency, had forged stickers.

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Indonesian Govt Planning To Raise Cigarette Tax  

The government is planning to raise cigarette tax by 6 to 7 percent next year in an effort to increase state revenue and reduce cigarette consumption, Director General for Customs and Excise Affairs Anwar Suprijadi said.

"The increase in cigarette tax will not be high. It will be adjusted to the assumed inflation rate in the 2009 state budget," ANTARA news agency quoted the director general as saying at the Finance Ministry building here on Thursday.

He said the government would soon disseminate information on its plan to raise the tax duty on cigarettes in 2009.

"We also have the mission to maintain public health in connection with the plan to increase cigarette taxes and to reduce cigarettes consumption," Anwar Suprijadi said.

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Support grows for total tobacco ban 

Some advocacy groups calling for a total ban on tobacco ads and sponsorship plan to rally community support to win the "unequal battle" against the government-backed giant cigarette industry.

The groups, which formed the Total Ban Alliance recently, said Saturday a wider base of public support was necessary as the government's lackluster policy against tobacco had helped increase the number of young smokers.

"We cannot win against the government-backed tobacco industry, so we will thrive to build community awareness and invite the community to join us in advocating the total ban," said Arist Merdeka Sirait, the secretary general of the National Commission for Child Protection which cofounded the alliance.

He said the community-based movement would run simultaneously with litigation efforts, including a judicial review motion against the 2003 government regulation on tobacco control to the Supreme Court.

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• Tobacco farmers appreciate bylaws restricting smoking  

Tobacco farmers gave a thumbs-up to an anti-smoking campaign aimed at restricting children's access to cigarettes, saying they are confident the movement will not lead to a possible demise of Indonesia's tobacco industry.

Chairman of East Java chapter Indonesian Tobacco Farmers Association (APTI) Amin Subarkah said that tobacco growers and cigarette makers and workers have had no objections to bylaws on smoking restrictions in public spaces to prevent children from smoking and which restrict smoking in public spaces for health reasons.

"Tobacco growers, cigarette producers and workers have children and do not want them to smoke as they are all aware of its negative impacts on human health," he said.

"But the government nor anyone else in society have the authority to bar adults from smoking and therefore, the government should provide smoking areas in public spaces."

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LETTER: Smoking kills a nation 

The fact is, tobacco companies are controlling our government.

From an economic perspective, our government has always stressed the importance of tobacco industries in supporting our local workers. The government receives approximately Rp 32 trillion (US$2.9 trillion) per annum from the tobacco industry, but at the same time it must spend Rp 120 trillion on medical care for patients with smoking related diseases.

The Indonesian government has made a real mistake in promoting smoking to its citizens by allowing tobacco companies to advertise on television. . . .

Since our government hasn't (or won't) sign the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), sporadic creative campaigns can still be conducted in public spaces.

Only through continual campaigning can we reduce the number of smokers.

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Cigarette Maker Offers People Chance to Control Billboard 

Jakarta-based agency SemutApi has created what its labeled the "first digitally interactive out of home advertising in Indonesia." That may be true but it's not the first worldwide. Anyway, the work is for...OMG...cigarette maker Djarum Super and is called The Bro & Cuy Super Show.

As art director Aria Gorba Hamdani describes, the work is "about two soccer addicts who are willing to do anything to be famous. So they went inside an LED screen billboard and perform cool and silly soccer moves as requested by anyone."

Passersby can text the board and request specific videos featuring Bro & Cuy to be played. There are ten

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