Slowly but surely, Indonesia is finally catching up with the rest of the world when it comes to regulations about smoking in public places. Well… very slowly and not so surely. Even though such regulations exist in many places, enforcement is often lax and smokers routinely flout the rules to the annoyance of those around them.
Which is why a recent video of a a Kereta Api Indonesia (PT KAI) clerk yelling at an unruly smoker and forcing him to get off the train struck a chord with many and went viral on social media, with many netizens praising the clerk’s tough approach to enforcing the smoking ban.
The head of public relations for PT KAI Semarang, Edy Kuswoyo, said the incident occurred at Waleri Station in Kendal, Central Java, back in June but the video only went viral recently.
According to Edy, one of the men in the video began smoking in his train carriage soon after he boarded.
“The passenger was caught smoking and was constantly reprimanded for not smoking. But the passenger ignored the warnings and instead kept smoking,” Edy told Detik.
He was told that he would have to get down at the next station, which was Waleri.
The video shows the man arguing with Waleri dispatch clerk Adi Setiawan. The man argues that he should not have to get off the train and his friends try to back him up. But Adi isn’t having it and says in no uncertain terms that the regulations say the offending smoker will have to get down. He also tells the man’s friends to butt out.
With security guards standing by, the smoker finally gets down from the train and his friends argue he should get a reimbursement for his tickets because he only traveled part of the way. But Adi shuts them down again and says he can try his luck lodging a complaint with PT KAI.
According to Edy, the smoker did try to ask for a refund, but he did not receive any compensation or a replacement ticket, in line with the company’s policy regarding passengers who are forcibly removed from trains for violating regulations.
Edy acknowledged that smoking on trains did remain a problem, although the number of incidences was decreasing. He said PT KAI fully supports Adi’s enforcement of the rules and hopes that the video will serve as a warning to others.
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