The world swept in confusion with the phrase ‘Om Telolet Om’ which suddenly goes viral on the internet and set as trending in various social media. The phrase itself, which can be trans-literated as “Sir please honk your bus horn”, is believed to be viral worldwide after DJ Snake post the phrase on his Twitter on December 20.
It is not clear as to why he post it, but some speculates that he hear the phrase or watch a video of it during his visit in Indonesia for the Djakarta Warehouse Project event on December 10.
Obviously, DJ Snake’s tweet raises response from other musicians. Indonesian responded in many ways including providing explanation about the phrase. The phrase “Om telolet om” is #2 trending in Indonesian Twitter while the hashtag #omteloletom is still used by people from various countries as this article published.
“Om telolet om” is viral mostly because Indonesians spam DJs and other celebrities’ social media account with the phrase. Many requested remixes of the sound, and Firebeatz was the first to comply. This Dutch duo turn up the bass and give the whole thing a killer hard beat. The drop doesn’t feature a whole lot of telolet, but it’s certainly a track that could fit into any festival set.
Billboard also write an article about the topic (read here). You can watch the video below:
Here’s a video of Indonesian Youtuber ‘analyzing’ this phenomenon. Though the analysis may not be accurate, but its close enough.
This phenomenon started in Java, Indonesia since around 6 years ago, where kids and teenagers think the modified bus horn is fun and they stand by the roadside shouting or raises a banner says “Om telolet om”, asking the drivers to honk the horn. They record the activity using their phones and post the video on Youtube. People from other regions of Indonesia then starts copying them, even made video parodies based on it.
The ‘telolet’ horn is added to the bus’ driver console, and it does not replace the original one (unlike the van that ‘sings’ La Cucharaca in the Ant Man movie). There’s even a telolet horn contest in Madiun, East Java, Indonesia, last June. However, there are concerns that the sound may distract other drivers. Minister of Transportation said that he will analyze the matter, as sound level of vehicle’s horn has to comply government regulations no 55/2012 Article 64 paragraph 2 about horn of vehicles in Indonesia, which should be at least 83 decibel (dB) and 118 decibel (dB) max. He also concerns about the safety of the ‘telolet’ hunters who stand too close to the road.[vertical-spacer]
Source links can be found in the article
Header image source: Soundcloud
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