Recurring Dream.

I don't know if you heard about this, but there was a news story a couple of nights ago on this two-year-old Indonesian boy who smokes 40 cigarettes a day.

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I was horrified. Indonesia is becoming known for their problems with cigarette smoking - their weak regulations mean not only that young Indonesians are targeted in smoking campaigns but also that it is widely accepted by the community.
Artists such as Jamiroquai and James Blunt who have allowed their Indonesian shows to be used as props for tobacco marketing would not help the situation at all.
Smoking in Indonesia is painfully common, with studies showing that on average poor families spend more on cigarettes than on books or education.
And possibly most horrifying? The fact that increasingly younger children are being drawn into cigarette addiction. Trusty Yahoo!News presents this alarming statement:

"There are many children under five years of age who have started smoking. A decade ago, the average age of beginner smokers was 19 but a recent study found that the average is seven."

It is a shame that such a horribly common habit like smoking is not targeted in Indonesia. I personally find it a gross thing to do, it stinks and the side-effects are awful. I have a few friends who are into the cigar movement as well. I find all smoking disgusting but it has been proven that smoking a cigar is better than a cigarette (they are made of 100% tobacco and you don't inhale the smoke, so there is no risk of lung cancer...only throat cancer...wow isn't that delightful?) Plus they don't smell too bad either.

I think the reason that we find this instance of a young child smoking so shocking is because of the nature of our societies. We live in a world with anti-smoking laws. There are people who actually condemn the habit. Packets have those gross images of gangrene and whatnot plastered all over the front. There are those ads on TV laced with tar and cancer and strokes and nicorette. We set standards as to how a parent should raise their child. We have grown to know an alternative.

It actually makes me really sad to see that a two-year-old smoking nearly two packs a day does not raise cause for concern among the Indonesian people, and this story really made me appreciate my own standards, understand how lucky I am and to see the awful dire straits that some parts of the world are falling into and should never have to face.