Indonesia’s cigarette rules a drag on business, snuff out culture, pro-tobacco activists say

Pro-tobacco activists oppose a ban on selling individual cigarettes, claiming the move will impact businesses and goes against Indonesia’s smoking culture

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Cigarette butts are seen on the ashtray in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo: Reuters

Published: 12:00pm, 7 Aug 2024Updated: 12:07pm, 7 Aug 2024

Banning the sale of individual cigarettes in Indonesia has been met with resistance from pro-tobacco activists, who believe that restricting tobacco sales would adversely impact small businesses and go against the country’s deep-rooted smoking culture.

According to the activists, cigarettes are the glue that bind societal ties in the archipelago. They are frequently given out during weddings and funerals in Java, and are even included in daily offerings to the Gods in the Hindu-majority island of Bali.

It is also said that the country’s traditional breakfast is a cup of coffee paired with a cigarette.

The tribes of Mentawai, a surfing-haven in western Sumatra, smoke tobacco, or ube, either for personal pleasure, during rituals to communicate with the ancestral spirit, or for simply interacting with outsiders. The tribe’s smoking habit went viral in April when a photograph of rock star Anthony Kiedis, of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, was seen lighting up alongside two Mentawai shamans.

“Kretek is very close to our community, from Sabang to Merauke. It enters cultural niches,” Khoirul Atfifudin, spokesman of Kretek Community, which advocates for pro-tobacco policies, said. Kretek is an Indonesian signature cigarette, which blends tobacco with cloves, resulting in a sweet-tasting stick and thick haze when burned.