SIR – According to your article on the efforts in Indonesia to tackle smoking, the anti-tobacco lobby tried to stop a Kelly Clarkson concert in Jakarta (“Where there’s smoke”, May 1st). This is a misrepresentation of the position taken by tobacco-control groups. The Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance joined its Indonesian partners in objecting to the sponsorship of the concert by a tobacco company, and not to the event per se.

The Economist would know that tobacco-sponsored entertainment has been outlawed in many countries around the world, and hence should not ridicule efforts by those who want to do the same in Indonesia.

Bungon Ritthiphakdee
Director
Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA)
Bangkok

Link to the Letter to the Editor, published on the Economist, 22 May 2010 edition: http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=16160356