Letter: Articles promote smoking

Wed, 06/18/2008 10:44 AM | Reader's Forum

As a non-smoker, I've been suffering a lot during my nearly three years in Jakarta, so The Jakarta Post's recent articles on smoking and Julia Suryakusuma's recent column, "Smoke gets in your eyes ... and lungs", are most welcome.

Smoking is a serious health issue here, and I get very frustrated when I'm unable to eat in a restaurant because of the heavy cigarette smoke, or worse yet, when I see children under the age of 10 smoking.

It is definitely time to do something about smoking.

Ironically, the Post unwittingly contributes to the problem by appearing to display smoking in a positive light in many of your profile pieces of young Indonesians.

For example, there is a piece on a successful young poet, in which you write: "Amid the loud chatter of people, she flicked her cigarette in an ashtray."

Why include these words? They add nothing to the piece; the reader does not need to know this information to learn about Anya's poetry or success. The words only serve to promote cigarette smoking as something that's desirable and socially acceptable.

As another example, there was a similar piece on another young poet, who was also described as a smoker.

The editors may not realize it, but these subtle descriptions send a powerful signal to young readers, that it's "cool to smoke".

GERRY MURPHY
Jakarta

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