customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

summary

updatedDate

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Resty Woro Yuniar

Banning the sale of individual cigarettes in Indonesia has been met with resistance from pro-tobacco activists, who believe that restricting tobacco sales would adversely impact small businesses and go against the country’s deep-rooted smoking culture.
According to the activists, cigarettes are the glue that bind societal ties in the archipelago. They are frequently given out during weddings and funerals in Java, and are even included in daily offerings to the Gods in the Hindu-majority island of Bali.
It is also said that the country’s traditional breakfast is a cup of coffee paired with a cigarette.
The tribes of Mentawai, a surfing-haven in western Sumatra, smoke tobacco, or ube, either for personal pleasure, during rituals to communicate with the ancestral spirit, or for simply interacting with outsiders. The tribe’s smoking habit went viral in April when a photograph of rock star Anthony Kiedis, of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, was seen lighting up alongside two Mentawai shamans.












View this post on Instagram























A post shared by Red Hot Chili Peppers (@chilipeppers)



“Kretek is very close to our community, from Sabang to Merauke. It enters cultural niches,” Khoirul Atfifudin, spokesman of Kretek Community, which advocates for pro-tobacco policies, said. Kretek is an Indonesian signature cigarette, which blends tobacco with cloves, resulting in a sweet-tasting stick and thick haze when burned.
“We reject the tobacco-related articles in the latest health regulation, one of which contains a prohibition on selling retail cigarettes. We side with small vendors, because this ban will [hurt] them. We asked small shops their [opinions] on the ban on individual cigarette sales, and they disapproved of it.”
Khoirul referred to the latest government regulation on health, signed by President Joko Widodo on July 26, which bans the sale of individual cigarettes, and their sales near schools and playgrounds. Tobacco and e-cigarettes are also barred from being promoted on social media.
A pack of cigarettes now must contain at least 20 cigarettes, ultimately ending the sales of cheaper packs with 12 or 16 cigarettes.
The minimum purchase age has also been raised to 21 from 18. The new regulation does not include punishment or sanctions on vendors or producers that break the rules.
“Retail sales [could promote] products that are easily accessible to novice smokers, children and teenagers, whose consumption levels we really want to reduce,” Indah Febrianti, head of law division at the Ministry of Health, said in a statement on August 2.
Love of cigarettes
Indonesia has one of the world’s highest smoking rates: out of a population of 270 million, 70 million were active smokers, according to the Indonesian Health Survey last year. Underage smoking also remains a challenge: 7.4 per cent of smokers last year were 10-18 year olds, with 15-19 being the highest smoking initiation age group at 56.5 per cent.
Unlike in the West, there is also no stigma surrounding smoking, which Khoirul of Kretek Community says is “an art” in and of itself.
“By smoking, I always have a friend. When I’m sleepy, when I have work to do, or when I was a student, when I did assignments, cigarettes are my friend,” the 23 year-old said.
Khoirul, who started smoking when he was 20, said that his group supports the government’s effort to reduce underage smoking, but not through measures that hurt small businesses and tobacco workers.
“Maybe the authority should require consumers to show ID cards to purchase cigarettes, and strengthen the monitoring [of the policy implementation], we will support that,” he said.

Stricter measures
The latest tobacco control regulations, however, were welcomed by anti-tobacco activists, though they demand more restrictions from Jakarta.
Yolonda C. Richardson, president and chief executive of the Washington-based Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said in a statement that the organisation applauds Widodo for signing the regulations, and urges the government to implement them despite “interference from tobacco companies that will surely continue.”
“It is also crucial for the Indonesian government to further protect Indonesians by dramatically raising tobacco prices, simplifying the complicated tobacco tax system and mandating indoor public places be 100 per cent smoke-free,” the statement said.
In Indonesia, a single cigarette only costs 2,000 rupiah (12 cents) in family-run kiosks, while a pack usually costs around 30,000 rupiah (US$1.86).
Ahmad Fanani, programme director of the Indonesia Institute for Social Development, said in a statement issued on July 31 that he welcomed the “progressive” rules, though he regretted that tobacco ad restriction only applies on social media, not television or billboards.
“One of the determining factors that causes the cigarette emergency to be so worrying is the ‘magic’ of advertising. In [our] research, 71 per cent of student smokers said that cigarette advertising was creative or inspirational, stimulating them to smoke. In Asean, only Indonesia still allows cigarette advertising. It is difficult to eliminate the smoking epidemic without an advertising ban policy,” Fanani said.
He also urged the authority to require producers to place pictorial health warnings that cover 80 per cent of the cigarette packs, up from just 50 per cent currently mandated.
Ahmad Fuady, assistant professor at the faculty of medicine at University of Indonesia, said the tobacco controls are a result of “political bargaining” between the government and Big Tobacco.
“In this government regulation, even though there has been progress, I don’t see a requirement to increase cigarette excise, there is no sanction mechanism for those who sell individual cigarettes. This will not affect much of the circulation of cigarette sales among teenagers,” he said.
In Indonesia, the tobacco industry employs a massive workforce and contributes billions to government coffers. As of May, income from tobacco excise reached 77.94 trillion rupiah (US$4.8 billion) of the 81.2 trillion rupiah collected in total customs and excise revenues. The industry also employed 5.98 million workers, as of last year, according to the industry ministry.


Pope Francis questions choosing pets over children, praises Indonesia’s high birth rate

Indonesia arrests suspected terrorist who plotted attack on Singapore Exchange building in 2014

Pope Francis arrives in Indonesia at start of 12-day Asia-Pacific tour

Hongkongers can visit Indonesia without visa as city joins only 1 of 3 non-Asean members

Indonesia

Indonesia’s cigarette rules a drag on business, snuff out culture, pro-tobacco activists say

Cigarette butts are seen on the ashtray in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo: Reuters

Pro-tobacco activists, believe restricting tobacco sales would adversely impact small businesses and go against Indonesia’s strong smoking culture. Photo: Bloomberg

Will Indonesia’s desire to host the 2036 Olympics go up in flames over economics, geopolitics?

The Olympic Flame handover ceremony for the 2020 Tokyo Games. Photo: Shutterstock

Indonesian president-elect Prabowo Subianto (left) shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, France, on July 24. Photo: EPA-EFE

Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Erick Thohir is leading the charge for Indonesia’s bid to host the 2036 Summer Olympics. Photo: AFP

Indonesia raises smoking age limit, bans single cigarette sales

Anti-smoking advocates say some of the new regulations are not enough to curb smoking. Photo: Reuters

Can Prabowo’s economic policies steer Indonesia through troubled waters?

Indonesia’s Defence Minister and President-elect Prabowo Subianto speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on June 1. Photo: Reuters

Indonesia’s Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati speaks during a press conference at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Bali in July 2022. Photo: AP

Construction workers at a construction site in the country’s future capital city of Nusantara in East Kalimantan province on July 29. Photo: EPA

Prabowo’s cabinet of connections? Loyalty trumps qualifications for Indonesia’s new leader

Indonesia’s President-elect Prabowo Subianto speaks at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in June. Photo: Reuters

The new presidential palace in Indonesia’s future capital city, Nusantara. Photo: AFP

Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the eldest son of Indonesian President Joko Widodo, was the running mate of president-elect Prabowo Subianto. Photo: Reuters

Billionaire tycoon Hashim Djojohadikusumo is the brother of Indonesia’s president-elect, Prabowo Subianto. Photo: Jonathan Wong

This Week in Asia

Politics

Economics

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

Pro-tobacco activists oppose a ban on selling individual cigarettes, claiming the move will impact businesses and goes against Indonesia’s smoking culture


Pro-tobacco activists oppose a ban on selling individual cigarettes, claiming the move will impact businesses and goes against Indonesia’s smoking culture.


Smoking and vaping

Social media

Washington