Entek Ngamek, Kurang Golek

The situation in our neighborhood has recently been a complete chaos. Neighbors in my block have seemed so easy to be instigated into hostility. Hostile remarks were made during a long chat on the local WhatsApp Group a day ago.

The aura of enmity was obvious when they were chatting. One member suggested another turn the lamp on just in front of her house during the night. The host refused to do so arguing the recently installed lamp post has outshone hers. This way she saw no urgency of keeping the light on at nights. She would do as told only if the new lamp be turned off.

One who tends to charge emotions aggressively will find hunger for more attacks. 

This small request and light topic led to a harsh conversation that drew everyone into antagonism. A tiny matter that should be resolved by contacting the neighborhood chief was finally morphing into a terrible bedlam no one could bear. My wife remained calm as usual, witnessing the havoc going on. It was really unnecessary.

The one refusing to turn off her light was reprimanded with words and stickers containing fierce censure. When reading how the chat was exchanged, I barely believed it took place in a Javanese setting where social civility is normally maintained. It was totally abusive and those people lambasting were toxic at its worst.

"Menungso taek!" was contained in a sticker addressed to her. She's literally considered a piece of turd. This means the woman who sent the sticker doesn't respect her as compared to a stinking piece of human feces. 

This reminds me of a Javanese idiom, entek ngamek kurang golek. The clause literally means getting more when out of stock and seeking more when lack of supplies. The people caviling in the chat have seemed to know every word of agony to make her suffer. They attacked aggressively using every possible expression to undermine her personality.

She eventually left the group after telling the reason. That she no longer benefits from the group that tends to disgrace others instead of empowering with meaningful messages. Entek ngamek kurang golek, then, that's when one lashes out someone else without giving him/her the opportunity to defend due to aggressively orchestrated argument of unfounded suspicions.

What a terrible conversation -- and neighborhood after all!