Elysabeth Ongkojoyo thought her baby would be able to breathe clean air indoors in Pluit Village mall, located in Penjaringan North Jakarta.
But her horrible experience at a J.Co café in the mall prompted her to start a petition on Change.org, urging the government to stamp down on people who smoke indoors.
In the petition she started two days ago, Elysabeth recalled that she was sitting in the J.Co café in Pluit Village with her one-and-a-half month old baby while waiting to pick up her 5-year-old from school.
After sitting in the café for an hour, she was approached by a J.Co employee who kindly asked her to move to another table because another customer, a man she identified as ‘A’, wanted to smoke in her spot.
She refused to move because she knew that smoking indoors in a public area was against the law. Then, A sat down with her and asked her to leave as well, calling her “stupid” as their argument escalated.
Upset, Elysabeth and her baby left J.Co while A remained to smoke in Elysabeth’s previous spot. She claimed there was a no-smoking sign in J.Co, but neither the J.Co management nor the mall management provided her with a satisfactory explanation regarding why they let A smoke inside.
If Elysabeth was telling the truth, then she has every right to be upset. The Jakarta Gubernatorial Regulation No. 88 in 2010 clearly states that smoking in public spaces, including inside of malls, is prohibited. People are only allowed to smoke in designated smoking rooms. Businesses that violate this regulation may have their license revoked.
If you want to support Elysabeth’s cause, sign the petition at Change.org.
Reader Interactions