September 5: Smokin' Baby

New Zealand earthquakes. College football. Chile miners. These are just a few of the things the Internet has been buzzing about over the weekend but none of them are as noteworthy as Ardi Rizal. A young boy from Indonesia is forced by his mother to make a life changing alteration to his daily routine and everyone is taking her side!

Raised in the South Sumatra province of Indonesia, Rizal was given his first cigarette from his loving father at the ripe age of 18 months. Since then, life had been grand. Rizal enjoyed spending the first two years of his youth hanging out on his red toy truck with his feet propped up on the blue steering wheel, his hands behind his head, and a cigarette dangling from his lips. He loved puffing smoke circles as his friends ran around and played in the grass. At two-years-old, Ardi's habit was already limiting him from joining his pals, but he didn't care. He was happy.

Minding his own business and smoking upwards of forty cigarettes a day, Rizal lived life to the fullest for over a year and a half. Happy and content as he was, the rest of the world became outraged once a video of the toddler doing his thing surfaced online. People wanted his parents turned over to Child Protective Services. They wanted new tobacco laws enforced. All Ardi wanted was another cigarette.

Rizal's father, Mohammed couldn't see what the fuss was about. He thought his son looked healthy and because he threw such monumental fits whenever his parents attempted to keep him from his hobby, Mohammed simply ceased trying. He wanted his son to be happy and to enjoy his youth. He wanted to be the "cool dad" on the block. Rizal's mother, Diana on the other hand, felt differently.

The victim of a childhood with strict parents, Diana wanted her own son to experience the same life of discomfort she had. Where Mohammed was lenient, she held her ground. No TV on school nights. No dessert unless the plate was completely clean. Ardi had chores at age two that some kids never had. Chores that included rotating the tires of the family caravan, cleaning out the hen houses, and sweeping the soot from the chimney. If it weren't for that cigarette with the addictive nicotine that was secretly handed to Ardi from Mohammed while Diana was at the grocery store, none of this would be an issue. She didn't care about his health; she just didn't want her son to be happy.

Ardi Rizal has been off cigarettes for just shy of a week now. He has become more active with the kids in his neighborhood. He still loves his little red truck, but the scars left from his controlling mother may never heal. In the past week, he has been known to call out for his cigarettes in his sleep. He draws tobacco leaves in the dirt and hums Marlboro jingles while he plays. It hasn't been confirmed whether or not he'll ever talk to Diana again, but Rizal has publicly gone on record as saying that he has not smoked his last ciggy.