"Oglangan" in Australia

Have you ever heard the word “Oglangan”? Some communities living in certain areas of Java use this word to describe a very dark condition. No light at all! We usually have it due to electricity break down. I say “usual” because it is really usual and a common phenomenon in my home village, in East Java.

However, this is not a story about “oglangan” in Indonesia. This is a story of “oglangan” in Adelaide. This did happen last Wednesday night. We had an electricity break down for an hour and half or so, from 11 pm to around 00.45 am. I thought that was just happened in my local area, but a friend told us that the “oglangan” also occurred at the same time in “Kampung” Tonsley, St Marrys (about 15 to 20 minutes by foot from my house).

Last year, I had the same electricity problem here. It was in the afternoon of summer or autumn. And the problem was fixed soon before sunset. Yet, this is winter. The break down happened in the night. When the “oglangan” started, our room was still warm. But an hour later, the room was getting cold. The heater and the electric blanket stopped functioning, you know. We had no candles. We had a flashlight, but it was broken.

Luckily, the laptop battery was full. So, we switched it on to illuminate the room (just to avoid our little girl crying in midnight when she woke up). The mobile battery was full too. So, we could bring it to the washroom and the kitchen as a “flashlight”. And more importantly, we did not spend all night with “oglangan”, since the problem was fixed soon. Everything was then going normally again. I could write my paper assignment too! Alhamdulillah :)

I then remembered a story of a friend who was studying in Washington last year. He had a similar problem during the last winter (December 2006). That happened in the night for about 14 hours! I could not imagine how people could live in such a winter without light, heater, hot water and all of the things needed during a cold weather. I think no one would expect it. You don’t hope it too, do you?