The officer informed him that he had violated a bylaw on smoking in two restricted areas: public transportation and bus terminals.
“Really? I don’t even know about the bylaw,” a confused Rizki told the officer. “I often smoke on the bus because there are no written rules about not doing so.
“If you forbid me from smoking in public areas, I can do it. But if you ask me to quit smoking, well, that will be hard,” he said.
Rizki was one of dozens of commuters and bus drivers caught smoking at the bus terminal on Wednesday.
Officials from the Jakarta Environmental Management Body (BPLHD) took down each violator’s personal details as part of judicial investigation procedures, while members of antismoking NGOs, including the Indonesian Network of Women Against Tobacco and the Indonesian Consumers Foundation, lectured on the bylaw and the dangers of smoking.
That was the scene on the first day of antismoking raids conducted by the BPLHD, municipal agencies and NGOs.
The sweep, which would end on Nov. 27, targets smokers flouting the bylaw on smoking in public areas such as office buildings, medical centers, schools, places of worship, playgrounds, public transportation and shopping centers.
On Wednesday, the BPLHD ran its campaign in South Jakarta, taking in the Blok M bus terminal, Blok M Mall, the Amazone game arcade at Blok M Plaza, the Victoria office building, Pertamina Hospital, Al-Azhar high school and Al-Azhar mosque.
The bus terminal netted the most violators — 20 — followed by Blok M Mall and Al-Azhar Mosque with six smokers respectively, Pertamina Hospital with three, and no smokers spotted at either Amazone or Al-Azhar high school.
Most of those caught smoking pleaded ignorance of the bylaw.
“Never heard about it. If the administration really wants to enforce the bylaw, they should provide smoking rooms,” said Andi, a university student.
Joni Tagor, head of the South Jakarta BPLHD, said violators would not face punishment because the raids were more about raising people’s awareness of the bylaw than about enforcing it.
“We will put more ‘No Smoking’ signs around the terminal and in public transportation in a bid to raise people’s awareness,” said Joni, admitting the lack of such signs was behind the high number of violators at the terminal.
The sweep at the Victoria office building saw BPLHD officers check on the provision of ‘No Smoking’ signs and smoking rooms in the building.
Joni urged the building management to be strict in forbidding staff or visitors from smoking outside the designated areas.
Bachtiar Sonda, head of the building’s tenant association, said he supported the raids, saying it could help reduce the number of smokers.
Ria Musiawan, from the Indonesian Network of Women Against Tobacco, agreed the raids were quite effective.(thejakartapost)
26 November, 2008
Going up in smoke: Raids begin
25 November, 2008
Purple tomatoes help fight cancer
A PURPLE tomato that fights cancer has been genetically engineered by British scientists.
Genes of a snapdragon flower were put into normal tomatoes, making them produce high levels of anthocyanins — chemicals that colour blackberries and blueberries.
Research suggests the compounds protect against cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s. They may also combat inflammation, obesity and diabetes and improve vision.
Scientists put powder from freeze-dried purple tomatoes into the food of mice lacking an essential anti-cancer gene.
Powder from red tomatoes had no effect and the mice died of cancer.
But animals given the GM tomato powder lived longer, an average of 182 days compared with 142.
The tomatoes may be sold in Europe in three years. Prof Cathie Martin of the John Innes Centre, Norwich, said human studies are “the next step”. (thesun)
14 November, 2008
HIV immigrant free to infect hundreds
The Jamaican man roamed a hospital unmonitored for nearly a year looking for sex with other patients.
Now health chiefs have written to 420 women warning they may have the deadly virus.
The man — known as Mr A — came to the UK in 2002 on a visitor’s visa.
He has admitted to sleeping with dozens of girls after prowling nightclubs in Leicester.
Dr Philip Monk, of the Health Protection Agency East Midlands, said: “He doesn’t know the number of women he had unprotected sex with.
“There’s a possibility it could be more than three figures.”
A condition linked to HIV saw Mr A admitted to the Brandon mental health unit at Leicester General Hospital last December.
In May, medics were warned by the Border and Immigration Agency that his visa had expired and he was in the UK illegally.
Yet despite this, he was not monitored and went on to romp with vulnerable patients.
Some sessions may have been INSIDE the unit.
Doctors learned the truth two weeks ago when a married patient confessed.
Officials held talks in Whitehall over fears hundreds of women may be infected.
A source said: “It’s literally panic stations.”
The National Aids Trust advised worried people to contact sex clinics or NHS Direct.
The Home Office refused to discuss the case but a source said Mr A will be deported if he is not charged. (thesun)
Baby born after ovary transplant
A healthy baby girl has been born in London following the world's first transplant of an entire ovary, it has been reported.
The 39-year-old mother conceived naturally after receiving the ovary from her twin sister.
Others have given birth after receiving smaller pieces of ovarian tissue.
A UK specialist said the procedure should be used to preserve fertility before cancer treatment, rather than to try to extend it.
The baby, weighing 7lbs 15 oz (3.6kg), was born to a German-born woman married to a Briton, who became infertile at 15 when her own ovaries failed.
It was reported that she did not actually intend to become pregnant, instead hoping that the transplanted ovary from her identical twin could relieve the symptoms of her early menopause and restore her periods.
The ovary was implanted with a minimal risk of rejection by her body, using delicate microsurgical techniques to reattach it to its blood supply and hold it in place alongside the fallopian tube, so that eggs could be expelled and travel down the tube towards the womb in the normal way.
Dr Sherman Silber, who carried out the transplant operation at the Infertility Centre of St Louis, Missouri, announced it to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine Conference in San Francisco.
He told the conference that the full ovary transplant was likely to last longer than strips of ovarian tissue, and might allow a woman's ovary to be removed and put back after extended storage.
This, he said, could allow women who are delaying motherhood for career or other reasons to improve their chances of having a baby later in life.
Cancer delay
The British Fertility Society supports the use of ovary transplantation, but only in cases in which fertility is threatened by impending radiotherapy or chemotherapy treatment.
Spokesman Mr Laurence Shaw, a consultant in reproductive medicine at the London Bridge Fertility Centre, in London, said that while the removal of eggs for storage in these circumstances could delay treatment, as hormone treatment was needed to mature egg follicles for harvesting, ovary removal could be carried out immediately.
However, most younger women whose ovaries fail would have little or no warning of this in time to store their own ovary, and no identical twin to supply a replacement, he said.
He said: "As a fellow surgeon, I'm awestruck by the way they have transplanted a very vulnerable organ and got it to function like that.
"But in terms of delaying motherhood, there are other techniques, such as egg freezing, which are likely to be more appropriate.
"I would have thought that the long-term freeze-storing of an ovary would cause as much harm as the deterioration due to age itself."
