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Jakarta Post

'Telolet Hunters' sad due to police ban

According to Riyadh As’ari, a Ngabul resident and the person who uploaded the first Om Telolet Om video onto social media, the Jepara Police have banned the fun activity for the past two weeks.

Asmara Wreksono (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, December 21, 2016

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'Telolet Hunters' sad due to police ban 'Telolet hunters' have been banned by the Jepara Police as they often take selfies and photos in front of passing buses, creating traffic jams. (Facebook/File)

T

he “Om Telolet Om” meme craze might just conquer New York City as famed American YouTuber, actor, singer, director, “vlogger” and prankster Karim Metwaly excitedly screamed “Om telolet Om!” to a passing truck in the famed metropolis. However, in Ngabul, Jepara, the place of the meme’s origin, the excitement has stopped.

We doing this everywhere in New York from now on

OM TELOLET OM #OmTeloletOm pic.twitter.com/ECx5UYxtlO

— Karim Metwaly (@KarimyScreamy) December 21, 2016

According to Riyadh As’ari, a Ngabul resident and the person who uploaded the first Om Telolet Om video onto social media, the Jepara Police have banned the fun activity for the past two weeks.

“After I uploaded my video to Facebook, Liputan6 SCTV covered it and the telolet hunters increased in number,” Riyadh told The Jakarta Post.

“At the beginning it was all fun. But then there were some people who stopped the passing buses to take selfies in front of them. This is what actually caused the police to ban the fun,” he added.

(Read also: 'Om Telolet Om' phenonmenon goes viral)

In Jepara, there are four main bus operators, namely Bejeu, Shantika, Muji Jaya and MJCM, which have their home garages in the small city. The children of Jepara started requesting bus drivers to honk their horns about a month ago in front of the Ngabul gas station, which is strategically located by Jepara’s main city gate. The horns produce the funny “telolet” sound. 

“The children, mostly from elementary and junior high school, stood by every 4:30 p.m. in that location to cheer for the buses. It lasted for a good one month,” Riyadh said. 

He added, “We are really sad that we cannot cheer for the buses anymore due to the ban. Now the buses are not allowed to honk when they pass by and we’re not allowed to hang out at the gas station anymore. This is thanks to the irresponsible people who took selfies and caused the traffic jams.”

The location has now been cleared of "telolet hunters", as Jepara Police coordinated with local bus operators to stop the madness.

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