Dangerously Nice: Kretek Cigarettes
I was a kretek (clove cigarette) smoker for almost two years. When I first started out smoking clove cigarettes in Kalimantan during a voluntary placement, I remember an older volunteer warned me, “Be careful with those things, they can be too nice.”
Smiling, I foolishly said, “Don’t worry, I’ve never been addicted to cigarettes, I’m just a social smoker.” In truth, I had deceived myself – the kretek’s cloves were so aromatic along with they aligned perfectly with coffee – I forgot in which I was smoking tobacco. Soon I was chain-smoking at social gatherings. One morning after seeing a pyramid of empty cigarette packets, the item dawned on me in which I was an addict along with miserably I matted down my knotty hair along with slouched to a nearby toko to sooth my throbbing head. Later I turned into a troll – I’d groan if I didn’t get my kretek along with coffee fix. After an evening of socialising with friends, sometimes I would likely hide a kretek in an old shoe to ensure there would likely always be one to ease me inside the morning. Sometimes my husband or a friend would likely bloody find the item.
the item is usually precisely because the cloves are so ‘nice’ – marinating, even hiding the taste of tobacco – in which I became hooked. Obviously I don’t want to upset the kretek community, yet at the very least I can tell you a bit about kreteks, the kretek culture along with just how along with why kreteks can be dangerously nice.
The onomatopoeic word ‘kretek’, is usually derived via the crackling sound in which the cloves make as they pop along with burn with each inhalation. They were first invented by Jamahri of Kudus in Central Java in 1880. An asthma sufferer, Jamahri first rubbed clove oil on his chest (the oil can be toxic if consumed); however he later discovered in which when cloves were inhaled with tobacco he could breathe more easily. the item is usually the compound eugenol inside the cloves in which give kreteks their distinctive aroma – eugenol is usually an antiseptic along with anaesthetic which numbs the throat. Despite their origins however, kreteks are not a healthy alternative along with studies have shown in which the health effects are similar to conventional cigarettes (although some kreteks contain more nicotine along with tar).
Yet health warnings aside, the kretek industry does provide an income to clove farmers as well as factory workers since the majority of kreteks are hand-rolled. The debate at This kind of point thickens. Not only do kreteks provide employment to many Indonesians, yet they are also considered to be a cultural icon. Ngudut dan ngopi is usually the Javanese ‘art’ of smoking whilst drinking coffee. The tradition of decorating kreteks with ground coffee along with milk, known as nyethe, is usually well-known in East Java along with batik patterns are painted on with toothpicks or spoons.
This kind of year the film Mereka yang Melampaui Waktu (Those who Surpass Time) directed by Darwin Nugraha was released along with the book of the same name was written by Sigit Budhi Setiawan. Darwin wanted to counter the anti-smoking campaigns by documenting elderly Indonesian smokers who were still healthy. For the project, older smokers along with coffee addicts across Java, Bali along with Lombok were interviewed; some were famers who smoked along with still ploughed along with harvested tobacco despite their age. Perhaps the item could be argued, however, in which the traditional, countryside lifestyle of the subjects had some positive health benefits (for example the rigorous exercise of farming), which helped to negate the harm of cigarettes along with their bodies were not subjected to the stresses of modern-day city living along with pollution.
Some consider flavoured cigarettes including kreteks to be a ‘gateway’ into smoking along with many cigarette along with kretek companies deliberately target the youth; in Indonesia, kretek companies organize university sponsorships as well as nightclub along with music events. According to studies, children along with young people are particularly receptive to marketing strategies, so This kind of is usually a concern.
Perhaps, via a balanced perspective the item might be wise to say in which the item is usually never Great to be addicted to anything, whether the item’s chocolate, the Internet, “crackberry” or tobacco. Ideally all sweet things should be taken in moderation, although I was not a Great example of This kind of.
inside the end we found a copy of Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Quit Smoking along with we both quit on the same day after reading the book. We’ve been off cigarettes at This kind of point for 14 months without relapse along with I feel free along with happy. Sure, I put on weight along with was called gemuk (chubby) by friends along with people I didn’t genuinely know along with instead of congratulating me, some friends even teased me into smoking again, yet for anyone who wants to give up or who has given up, let me say the item: congratulations.
Further Information
Mark Hanusz Kretek: The Culture along with Heritage of Indonesia’s Clove Cigarettes (2004) Equinox Publishing
Sigit Budhi Setiawan, Mereka yang Melampaui Waktu (2013) Pustaka Sempu dan Layar Nusa
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Dangerously Nice: Kretek Cigarettes
Dangerously Nice: Kretek Cigarettes