By: Sani Firmansyah

Coinciding with the celebration of National Electricity Day, the Bandung Environmental Management Agency (BPLH) and the Bandung Energy Wise Communication Network (JKBBE) organized the "Simultaneously Turn Off the Lights" (SEMALAM) movement on Saturday (10/27).

The movement was centered in the courtyard of Bandung City Hall which was attended by the Mayor of Bandung, Ridwan Kamil, and the CEO of WWF-Indonesia, Dr. Efransjah. Exactly at 20.30 to 21.30 WIB the electricity was turned off. All activities were only lit by candles.

Ridwan Kamil symbolically placed one candle that illustrates the moment of switch off/on. In the midst of the darkness, karinding music played by a group of musicians from the local community was played.

Bandung will regularly conduct a one-hour simultaneous blackout from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. every Tuesday and Friday for residential and government offices. As for commercial buildings, it is done every Friday in the third week of the month.

Ridwan Kamil, who is familiarly called Kang Emil, claimed to have circulated a letter regarding the blackout in August 2014. It is expected that the blackout is obeyed by the people of Bandung, both individuals, communities, businesses, government agencies, and the private sector.

"We were inspired by the WWF-Indonesia Earth Hour program. Last year, I thought Bandung should be able to save energy on a regular basis in large numbers. Finally, the idea was welcomed by community friends and launched on this National Electricity Day," he said.

Kang Emil added, this new movement is expected to really be the right momentum and step in inviting more people to take action to save energy as well as other green behaviors. Socialization will continue to be carried out, especially to schools so that the logic and understanding of this movement is easy to understand.

"The purpose of this activity is to remind and increase public awareness of the importance of saving energy from the easiest thing, namely by turning off the lights owned by everyone who has access to electricity," said the Chairperson of the Bandung Wise Energy Communication Network, Christian Natalie, during the launch of "Overnight" at Bandung City Hall.

Meanwhile, CEO of WWF-Indonesia, Dr. Efransjah, said, "Energy is one of the most important issues globally. On the one hand, its availability is limited. While on the other hand, there needs to be a change in human behavior in responding to energy. For this reason, there needs to be a shift to the use of renewable energy sources."