In Reply to: sorry but posted by Baliku on Friday, 2. December 2005 at 08:02 Bali Time:
There is a book available in Bali about the history of Kretek. It makes the point that smoking became widespread during depression times in Indo when people couldnt afford to feed themselves and their families and smoking was cheap and staved off hunger. Unfortunately it was (is) very addictive so people then had to support their addiction. So I think that for many people smoking is not a 'treat'.
I agree though that when people are struggling its not very helpful to buy bikes or other expensive toys for their children. If your family is going hungry or struggling to meet living costs having your children wearing beautiful clothes or whatever would not be of much help.