As I walked around Jakarta, I could not believe how many men were smoking cigarettes…it honestly seemed like every single guy was smoking.
Smoking In Indonesia
My son, Augustine, and I flew through Jakarta twice last year on SAS Million Miler trip, but did not go into the city…instead, we stayed at an Ibis Hotel near the airport. The year before, I had been to Bali, but did not recall all the smoking. I had not spent time in Jakarta since before the pandemic.
As I walked out of the Park Hyatt and down the streets of Jakarta, the amount of smoking was startling. As a matter of fact, smoking was permitted in the bars at the Park Hyatt, which is increasingly rare at luxury hotels these days .
I looked it up and found that smoking is a major public health issue in Indonesia, with the country having the world’s second-largest tobacco market, a high prevalence of smoking, particularly among men, and a significant number of smokers who start in childhood. While only about a third of the population smokes, over 70% of men smoke.
So-called Kretek cigarettes (clove-flavored that make a crackling sound when burned) make up about 95% of the market and are produced domestically, with over a million people directly or indirectly employed by the tobacco industry. The high levels of eugenol in kretek smoke can have a numbing effect, which may encourage deeper inhalation and increase exposure to harmful substances.
Cigarettes are cheap and widely available. Government efforts to curb tobacco consumption have largely failed.
The saddest thing was seeing so many kids smoking. I took a motorcycle back to my hotel and we passed this group of boys smoking…they did not look more than 10-12 years old. How sad.
California has taken the opposite extreme, with many cities banning cigarettes not only indoors, but in most outdoor places as well. That may be taking it too far, but what a sad, disgusting, expensive, and unhealthy habit.
If you’re a smoker, today’s the day to stop!
I’m sharing about my whirlwind trip through Asia.
We shouldn’t criticize other cultures, we should respect their ways.
Definitely part of my memories of dozens and dozens of trips to Indonesia: 100% of males in Indonesia smoke. I remember I had an Indonesian guy that reported to me and lived in Jakarta and after a while he got an offer to come to the US as an expat. One day he heard I was going to Jakarta and he called me and asked if I could bring him a few packs of Indonesian cigarettes. The other thing that I remember was that in every traffic light there were people selling Viagra and Cialis on the street. Oh yes, they all said it was the “original” ones. LOL!!! Who would be so crazy to buy those things on the street and take it?
Ha. Just read Jakarta has become the world’s largest city. Hmm all that Viagra must have had an impact!
Not surprised. Traffic is so bad in Jakarta that even low level managers at my company had a car with a driver so they could work on their laptops or take calls while moving around the city. My meetings were all at the hotel where I was staying so customers would come to meet me rather me going to meet customers so I could have several meetings in a day vs maybe only one meeting if I had to move around the city. As for the Viagra, I always laughed when those guys approached me while in a car. Who would risk their lives to buy a pill from a vendor on the streets? Crazy!!!
Smoking issue aside, which city did you enjoy or like more, Jakarta or Kuala Lumpur?
Jakarta is not a very attractive city. Unless I had some VERY compelling reason to be there, I’d avoid it.
I will say the selection of inexpensive luxury hotels is amazing.
Easily, KL.
I had an internship exchange back in the early 90’s in Indonesai. Second hand smoking kretek cigarettes for 8 hours on a bus with continuous karaoke over the audio system certainly made a lasting memory.