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Indonesian icons: The mischievous, beloved ‘Pak’ Ogah
Indonesian icons is a regular series highlighting notable people from throughout the country. In this installment, we are covering the man behind a beloved 1980s children’s character.
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Old friends: Pak Ogah with Drs. Suryadi, who voices Pak Raden. (Source/Courtesy of Pak Ogah)
I
t is one thing to be a celebrity in Indonesia. It is another to be so popular that the entire nation names a particular group of people after you. In this case, it’s the term referring to informal traffic attendants who help cars and motorcycles navigate busy intersections in return for small change.
Such is the legacy that Pak Ogah, whose real name is Abdul Hamid, has given to the country with his puppet likeness from the 1980s children’s TV series, Si Unyil. Parking attendants are named after him because of their shared tendency to ask for change in return for a favor.
The bald-headed puppet was, and still is, one of the most popular characters from the series, perhaps because the real Pak Ogah, the voice actor, looks exactly like it. Or the other way around.
“Actually, I even forget my real name sometimes. What’s the use?” he told Aksara News TV last year. “If you ask for Abdul Hamid’s house, nobody knows. But if you ask for Pak Ogah’s house, the whole district will tell you.”
Named after his usual response to being asked to do something, “Ogah ah...” – a slang term that roughly translates to “I don’t feel like doing that…” – the puppet’s goofiness and funny interactions with Unyil’s titular goody two-shoes school boy character charmed many children who watched the series back in the 80s. The image of his puppet in a white T-shirt with a shabby shirt hanging over it sitting perpetually relaxed at a neighborhood security post is not lost on early millennials, who have now grown up and whose children are now perhaps watching Pak Ogah on the modern version of Unyil.
His most famous catchphrase, “Cepe dulu dong” (give me 100 rupiah first), has influenced traffic attendants in the country. This might seem like a bad image to have. But instead of trying to separate himself from the role, Pak Ogah has no issue embracing his influence.
‘Si Unyil’ and the rise to fame
“It’s hard to remember what he did before being in Unyil,” his wife Yuyun Widayanti told The Jakarta Post. She said he had never taken any major role outside of Pak Ogah.
Born on Dec. 3, 1948, in Jakarta, Abdul Hamid has always been an artist. In the 90s, he managed a studio in Taman Ismail Marzuki, an arts and cultural center in Jakarta, where he met Yuyun and eventually married her. His closeness to the arts community was probably the reason he became close with the late Drs. Suyadi, the renowned animator and creator of Si Unyil.
Si Unyil began airing on April 5, 1981, and ran for 12 years on TVRI. Produced by state-owned film company Produksi Film Negara (PFN) during the New Order era, Drs. Suyadi’s educational children’s show had propagandist hints and several episodes were named after Soeharto’s government programs. It was also one of the reasons why Suyadi and writer Kurnaen Suhardiman made a clear distinction between good characters and bad ones. Suyadi’s puppet, the stingy, short-tempered Pak Raden, fell into the latter category. So did the lazy and unemployed Pak Ogah.
“[The children’s] parents must’ve told them, ‘Look at that. You have to study hard at school or else you’ll be like Pak Ogah – always sleeping at the security post, can barely afford to eat,’” Pak Ogah said. “So [the character] actually became a ‘whip’ for them.”
But somehow, the seemingly unsympathetic characters like Pak Raden and Pak Ogah turned out to be the most popular. In the late Drs. Suyadi’s case, children adored Pak Raden, who was good at painting, storytelling and was never seen without his fake mustache. In Pak Ogah’s case, he enchanted viewers with his goofiness and funny retorts. Or it might have been because of his particular way of talking. Or his iconic bald head.
“Back in my day, [our childhood] was filled with laughter from Pak Ogah,” singer Ressa Herlambang said while visiting Pak Ogah’s house. “He has his own trademark, and that’s not easy to acquire.”
As Pak Ogah went with Drs. Suyadi (dressed as Pak Raden) from one TV show to another, it was apparent that he was very similar to his puppet character, with the same mannerisms portrayed on Unyil. They often went from school to school, charming and impressing students with their characters and storytelling.
“Usually he’s recognized whenever he goes out, even when he puts on a hat,” his wife Yuyun said.
To further immortalize his character, Trans 7 gave Abdul Hamid his own show, called Ogah Ngeyel, in 2011. The series presented him as Pak Ogah encountering misfortunes despite trying to be good – or at least minding his own business. When the show ended after 16 episodes, he went back to voicing Pak Ogah on Unyil.
Si Unyil underwent several changes over the decades: different TV stations, different formats and even different voice actors. But through much of this, Pak Ogah remained. Most recently, he was the voice actor for the puppet in Laptop Si Unyil on Trans 7, which portrays him as Unyil’s prominent sidekick.
The struggle
Beyond voicing his own puppet, Abdul performed additional gigs throughout his career to supplement his income. That is why some people might remember Pak Ogah as an MC at a child’s birthday party or other gatherings.
“The money he got was not [as big as his popularity],” Yuyun said, “because, really, he has no savings from Unyil.”
These days, his health is not as good. “When he rides a motorcycle at night, he can't even see clearly anymore,” Yuyun said. So lately, his only source of income has been from voicing Pak Ogah. But his pay, she added, was not that helpful for someone in his 70s.
The media has covered Abdul’s periodic hospitalizations since 2016. News broke just recently that he had suffered from a stroke, caused by an arterial blockage in his brain.
The man behind the character
“Back then, after I got home [from school], I waited for Unyil while watching Bolang and drinking Frutang,” user @nobietski said on Twitter, while sharing pictures of Pak Ogah and his legendary puppet.
Among the pictures was one of him lying in a hospital bed. “This figure used to entertain us when we came home from school. Now is time for us to help Pak Ogah,” he said, sharing a link to a donation campaign.
“Back then, whenever Mom told me to go to the kiosk, I would reply, ‘Gope dulu donggg’ [give me Rp 500 first].” user @teeyrsnyder wrote, showing how widespread the catchphrase is and how it has adjusted to the current inflation level.
Time has immortalized Pak Ogah as a figure, and now time is seeming to catch up to him. Children from the 80s to the early 2000s have seen that the bald-headed figure they grew up with is also human. After over 40 years as Pak Ogah, Abdul Hamid has seen most of the older voice actors from Unyil pass away, from Bu Bariah to Pak Raden.
“He loves watching the news,” Yuyun said about her husband. “Back then, he would always look for newspapers. When he finished one, he would get another newspaper to read before he went to sleep.”
But the stroke has affected Pak Ogah badly. His arms no longer cooperate, and he finds it difficult to form sentences, which means he has stopped voicing his character for Unyil.
“He speaks almost nonsense now,” Yuyun said somberly. After more than 30 years of marriage, Pak Ogah seems to have lost one of his greatest tools: his words. When asked whether he was happy to be Pak Ogah, he tried his best to express his happiness, “So quick, yes. Happy, of course, happy…” And then he trailed off slowly.
In his illness, he has taken joy in other people’s company. Twelve family members now live in his house, including he and his wife. Other celebrities and colleagues often come to pay visits as well.
“Bu Hanimah came to visit him the other day,” Yuyun said, referring to the voice actor currently portraying Unyil. This seemed to excite Pak Ogah as he nodded in agreement.
The social service organization Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT) Bekasi has started a fundraising campaign to assist in Pak Ogah’s recovery. He has been back and forth to the hospital for intensive care. The title of the Kitabisa donation page says, “Good people, let’s give Rp 100 first to Pak Ogah,” in a nod to his catchphrase, which has never sounded more sincere or urgent.
The fundraiser has surpassed its goal with many days left before it closes, making it clear that many Indonesians care deeply about the artist, who has worked his whole life to bring laughter to people.
