B

ad habits die hard, but some smokers in Jakarta have found the courage and determination to quit after alarm bells rung.

Sutiyono, 37, a neighborhood unit leader in Kebon Pala, East Jakarta, decided to give up smoking after suffering from breathing pains.

'€œI was a heavy smoker. I smoked up to three packs of cigarette a day for 17 years until two months ago. One day, my chest hurt when I breathed, so I'€™m gradually trying to quit smoking,'€ the father of one child told The Jakarta Post during a recent antismoking event at Car Free Day in Central Jakarta.

It was not as easy as it sounded. Sutiyono said he had been a member of a campaign group under the Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta) for two years, but only decided to quit smoking two months ago.

'€œNow, I always have sweets and bottled water [to replace cigarettes] wherever I go,'€ he said.

He revealed that his family had been the decisive factor, his wife and daughter continually encouraging him to give up his long-term habit.

'€œMy 7-year-old daughter started to complain about my smoking. Apparently she learned about the dangers from an antismoking campaign at school. She took to writing, on a piece of paper, '€˜Dad, you are banned from smoking!'€™ and so on,'€ he said, adding that the distressing pictures on cigarette packets were another deterrent.

Van driver Sutar, 41, who lives in Bekasi, decided to quit smoking after a prolonged bout of coughing.

'€œI was only a social smoker anyway '€” I smoked because my friends said a man who doesn'€™t smoke is not manly enough. Until one day, I was constantly coughing and my chest hurt. My doctor told me to quit smoking, so I did,'€ said Sutar, who stopped smoking nearly 10 years ago.

Yet despite health concerns and steely determination, the path to fully abandoning the habit has not always been smooth for Sutiyono and Sutar.

'€œWhen a friend comes over and offers me a cigarette, not knowing that I have quit smoking, it can be very tempting,'€ Sutiyono said.

Sutar concurred that peer pressure was the biggest challenge.

'€œMy friends always tease me, calling me a sissy because I don'€™t smoke. But I don'€™t really care '€” I know I am manly enough, even without cigarettes. Besides, those who employ me usually say they are happy to hire me because they don'€™t have to spend extra money on cigarettes,'€ Sutar said.

Daniel, 28, another former smoker, said he managed to quit the habit '€” which he started while he was still an elementary school pupil '€” after attending a therapy session.

'€œI underwent acupressure therapy. Somehow, cigarettes taste very bad after the therapy,'€œ he said.

According to Fakta, there are 3 million smokers in Jakarta, 70 percent of whom fall within the low-income bracket. In 2013, Jakartans smoked 12.5 billion cigarettes, the group claims.

Ignorance and lack of information on the side effects of smoking are among factors that prevent widespread quitting of the habit. Fakta chairman Azas Tigor Nainggolan explained that a wider range of non-smokers were being targeted .

'€œA recent study of ours found that 99 percent of billboard cigarette ads in Jakarta were placed near non-smoking places like schools, hospitals and offices, meaning that tobacco producers are aiming to ensnare new consumers, teens,'€ he said.

Early this year, Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama issued gubernatorial decree No.1/2015 banning cigarette and tobacco-related product billboards in the capital city. The decree has been in effect since January, but it will not apply to tobacco billboards that obtained permits before the decree was issued.