Faisal quits smoking to discourage underage smoking

Faisal Basri: (Tribunnews.com)

As part of his commitment to discourage underage smoking, independent Jakarta gubernatorial candidate Faisal Basri announced that he has decided to quit smoking.

Basri said that he had been a smoker since he was in school and that it took him a long time to decide to quit.

"My oldest son would always remind me about the dangers of smoking. He very often raids my supplies and takes away my cigarettes," Faisal, a noted economist, said on Thursday, the day when he made his announcement to quit and which also happened to be Anti-Tobacco Day.

Families, he said, were an important factor in preventing young people from smoking. Parents in particular should pay more attention to their children in order to monitor for developments that might indicate a risk of their kick-starting a smoking habit.

"An open family atmosphere will encourage the young to be more open about their experiences to their parents who, in turn, can give their children advice without causing the children to feel threatened or pressured," Faisal said, as quoted by kompas.com.

The Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) recently reported that underage smoking was on the rise. In 1995, only 7 percent of youngsters aged between the ages of 15 and 19 smoked, whereas by 2010 that figure had risen to 19 percent. (png/dic)