Indonesia's 'smoking baby' kicked his habit but the battle against tobacco rages on

Sumatra: Aldi​ Rizal is known around the world as "Indonesia's smoking baby".

Shocking footage of the toddler precociously puffing on fags went viral on YouTube and became a symbol of the smoking crisis in a country described as a last Eden for tobacco manufacturers.
 

Six years after two-year-old Aldi started sneaking ciggies while his mother sold fish at the market, Fairfax Media tracked him down in the remote village of Teluk Kemang in South Sumatra.

Now almost nine and in fourth grade, Aldi is one of the world's youngest reformed smokers.


 

Aldi Rizal, then aged two, gained notoriety in for his smoking. He was mistakenly called "Ardi" in the original stories. 

"I kept watching people smoking and it looked delicious. It feels good when smoking. But now I think chocolate is better than smoking," Aldi tells us.

He quit four years ago with the assistance of famous child psychologist and TV personality Dr Seto Mulyadi.

It was an arduous struggle and one that saw Aldi initially swap cigarettes for food, leading to a fresh battle to control his ballooning weight.