Tackling the smoking problem in remote Australia

A public health activist and researcher in Arnhem Land takes up the fight against a deeply entrenched cultural practice

l<ishan With T/ Ganamb '"'my arr, 0 traditional Indigenous d oncer

Following World No Tobacco Day not so long ago, a documentary film was released earlier di.is mond1 thar explores the problem of smoking in a remote Aboriginal community.

Produced and directed b y .Kishan Kariippanon, a docror and public healili communications researcher who lives and works in the Nhulllnbuy in Arnhem Land, the film The Tobacco Sto1)' of Amhe111 Lmdlooks at the cultural ly entrenched practice of robacco use in this community

Smoking is tl1e leading preventable cause of ill health and dead1 among Indigenous Australians and contributes significantly to the gap in life expectancy. Previous efforrs to stop smoking have n o r been successful So Dr Kishan decided ro take a different tack.

Inspired by Tamil film diJ:ector Venkat Prabhu, Kishan has used the Tamil cinematic s tyle to shoot this do cWJ1eurary.

"I like the way tl1ey show emotion in Tamil movies," Kishan revealed to Indian U11k. " l want Aboriginal kids to watch m y film, absorb the srory and its lesson, and share it''.

He has a practical approach to tl1e smoki ng problem.

"Ir is ridiculous to expect people to guit when they have been smoking since they were children," Kishan explains. "Smoking is ingrained in their culture; tl1ey even have a tobacco dance at funerals. 1vl y sryle is to take baby steps in changing behaviour - don't smoke in front of grand-kids, don't ask children to pick cigarettes for you, and don't smoke in your house or your car where there are kids"

Kishan Kariippanon is currentl y researd1ing d1e interplay of social media and mobile phones amongst Yolngu (Aboriginal) youth, observing their use of Facebook and mobile phones, and how this could be used to p romote their wellbeing.

Arnhem Land is one of the few areas in Ausrralia where Aboriginals still live a traditional life.

So how did Kishao, a iYfalaysian

On location filming The Tobacco Story of Arnhem Land

with an Indian background, land in NhuJunbuy?

"I wo rked for tl1ree years at Darwin at the Centre for Disease Control, looking at sexual health and policies around young peop le. One ~1f my aims was to help make tl1e clinics mote yo ud1 - frienc1Jy. During this time I realised that there was a lot of social media use by Aboriginal kids in remote commu1uties. They do not have a TV or landline, bur they do whatever d1ey can to access Facebook and YouTube through their mobile phone s. I was intrigued and decided to research this for my PhD," Kishan says

Speaking at TEDx Darwin, Kisban argued char promoting health to Indigenous youth needed a serious redunk. Social media and mobile techno logy could be p u t to good use to accomplish dus, he suggested.

A doctor who heard Kisban's talk at TEDx invited bin, to be part of his scabies project in Arnhem Land.

Shortly thereafter, Kishru1 moved \vith his frunily from the relative comfort of city liJe in Dru.win to a tin-shed house in I hulunbuy.

The move was crucial to his being accepted b y the Aboriginal community

"They felt that tl1is guy must be serious, if he's decided tO move so dose tO us!" Kishan says with a laugh

He adds with a twinkle in his eye, "I used my cooking skills to entice tl1e elders. They loved m y clucken curry, rice and pappadumsl"

"Growing up in a multiculmral society like Malaysia, and having the rich heritage of India, certainly gave me an advantage as some of tbe cultural protocols of the Aboriginal~ came namra1ly to me;' he continues.

Kisban's earnestness in understanding the Aboriginal culmre was evident and soon he had the trnst of the Yolngu people. He even started learning tl1eir language b y mi'ling witl1 the locals. The more he understood the people, the more he was struck by tbe simibricies of their culmre and language co chat of Asia.

"Specific Yolngu clans are distinctively sinular to South 1ndians," Kishan observed lt has been a long journey spanning continents and remoce comers for this intrepid man.

Volunteering in Siberia after bigb school in Malaysia , he stayed on to complete medical schoo l in Russia. Soon he was packing his bags for Tim or Leste, when d1e civil crisis broke in 2008, to vo1LUHeer as a doctor. Kisban's multi-lingual skill~ proved very useful and be had a bus y life at the clinic seeing 150 patients a day "Bm this was soon co change.

His keen observation skills helped uncover a human trafficking syndicate. \'vneD the number o f young girls who came to rest for HIV at tl1e clinic reached 26,

multicultural societY,

Kisban suspected that the girls were being trafficked. He took his hunch to die police. The perpetrators were caught and a massive .ring from Timor Leste co Cambodia to Damascus to tl1e Middle Ea st, was uncovered. Thru,ks to him the young girls were saved, but it was no longer safe for hin1 to remain in the country. Soon he was off co ivlelboume to do a M.ascers' degree in Public Health.

"And that was tl1e end o f my shore clitucal practice," l.augbs Kishru1, happily going wherever life has taken hin1.

Today, he is passionate abom Aboriginal affairs.

When asked if 'Clo sing d1e Gap', tl1e government program on reducing tl1e 17-year lifeexpectancy gap between Aboriginal Ausm1lia and other Australians has worked, Dr Kishan is emphatic that ir has.

"Only in d1e 1970s were Aboriginal peop le given citizensh ip rights. "Before that they came under the Flora and Fauna J\ct! This segregation and otl1er factors bave bad a long term effect OD d1e psyche of people. 'Closing the Gap' is definite.ly a good start. Tilings are slowly getting better. The difference in culture is definitely a barrier.

We need more participatory decis ion-making processes, a trans-cultural approad1 to sol utions," says Kishan, who now has a first-hand understanding of the issue. For more about Kis han Kariippuuon's film 71/lt' 711/,11,.,.1, ,\tori ,,; lmlr,111 L11ul, visit \.V\Vw iruwarj.com.au