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The Bitter Truth: In Jakarta, Smoking in a Non-Smoking Room Is (Sadly) Normal

A young girl smoking a cigarette at shopping mall in Jakarta. (JG Photo/Jurnasyanto Sukarno)

Smokers are kings in this city. Go to any coffee shop — or any other public place, really — and you’ll easily spot people smoking in a room that has an obvious “no-smoking” sign.  
 
In this country, I wouldn’t be surprised if non-smokers were the minority.

More than 60 million people are active smokers in Indonesia, making us the world’s third-biggest smoking population after China and India. Smoking is definitely not a sinful act. Even the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has yet to decree a fatwa against the deadly thing.
 
In an ironic twist, in Indonesia, cigarette companies sponsor many sporting events, supposedly healthy activities.



Jakarta is no exception. 

The city has officially slapped a ban on smoking in public places and inside buildings. According to a recent regulation, an upgrade on a previous decree, not even a separate smoking room is allowed.



Not surprisingly, rules are meant to be broken here. The government is an expert at making rules, while halfheartedly enforcing them. And then, of course, there are those who are good at breaking laws. 

So it’s not just Governor Fauzi Bowo’s fault. 



A June survey conducted by the Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation (YLKI), involving 210 restaurants, hotels and office buildings, discovered that a third of these places didn’t implement the bylaw. It also found that dozens of buildings in Jakarta still had indoor smoking rooms.  



There is some relief. Although 36 percent of the 420 respondents said they hadn’t heard about the bylaw, 79 percent, including smokers, agreed that the policy was a good one. It’s a matter of spreading the word to the public and, of course, enforcing the law. 



Although the city administration has said that it is going to enforce the bylaw more seriously, including a statement from Peni Susanti, head of the Jakarta environmental management agency, that there is growing public support for the smoke-free policy, will things really change?



Just last week, I met a friend at a fancy restaurant located in a prestigious mall in Jakarta. When I arrived, the waiter at the entrance didn’t even ask if I was a smoker or not, because it turned out that the whole restaurant was one big smoking room. Speaking of compliance, right?
 
And I’m sure I’m not the only who realizes that cafes and restaurants, as well as nightclubs, in the city have little intention of abiding by the non-smoking rule.



When the bylaw was enacted, Jakarta restaurant owners complained, saying that smokers were their number one customers. People wouldn’t come if smoking was not allowed, restaurants claimed. 

I think this is a misleading claim. If every single restaurant, cafe or bar in Jakarta implemented a strict non-smoking policy, smokers would have no choice but to go to places without smoking. It’s not like they would spend every weekend at home. 



At the end of the day, it boils down to enforcement. 

If the city administration can’t fix the situation, then the public must voice their opinion and fight the injustice. There’s a widely held assumption among smokers I know that smokers outnumber non-smokers and that the voice of the majority rules. It’s democracy, they say.
 
I personally believe that there are more people out there who understand that spending money on cigarettes is imprudent both financially and health-wise.
 
Unfortunately, for a long time non-smokers have chosen not to express their disagreement, and the lax enforcement does not help the situation. 

Now, it’s time for you to change.  



Next time you see someone smoking in a non-smoking area, you should tell them, “Are you stupid or something?”

Jakarta Jungle follows the stories and views of individuals from every walk of life in our maddening, bustling and colorful city.