After an inspiring but tiring first day at a Relay for Life Conference in Albany, my dear friend Kaitlin (the reason why I am bloggin’ for Her Campus right now) and I turn on the TV for some R & R only to find a news piece on the YouTube phenomenon that is the plump, chain-smoking Indonesian toddler. I found this not only interesting, disturbing and highly entertaining but also extremely ironic. Here we are trying to raise awareness and money for research to find a cure for cancer—obviously not exclusively for Americans to benefit from but for anyone in the world to benefit from (I make this distinction because Relay for Life is an American Cancer Society event but is also present internationally)—and we are slammed with this segment showing children being medically treated with nicotine.
“Doctors” and parents actually believe that by doing things such as burning the skin with cigarettes and injecting “magic smoke” into bodies through the ear canal will heal disorders and sicknesses. When these self-proclaimed doctors ask why they do this if they know that tobacco causes one of deadliest diseases out there they say things like “it works” or “it’s just different.” I know that Western and Eastern medicine are different and I am not claiming that Western medicine is superior but HONESTLY. I was astounded with how big of a sensation smoking is in Indonesia is from the city to the farms and also to what length they go to inhale the most amount of tobacco they can and in the most effective way…it’s pretty intense.
When interviewing a Harvard-educated Public Health Official in the nation’s capitol, she said she knows it is a problem but says there is nothing she can really do….there are Marlboro stands outside elementary schools sweetie, I propose that getting rid of them would be a start? Anyway, I’m done ranting about what I call this Indonsian Insanity…they do have gr8 food so I’m not hatin on the country as a whole only their lack of parenting skills, common knowledge and care about their health. Take a lookski here if you haven’t seen this video (idiot): http://www.youtube.com/watch?