ANZAC DAY 25 April

Esok 25 April, di belahan bumi selatan ini, kami sibuk meng-komemorasi the ANZAC Day. Bisa dibilang ini Hari Pahlawannya suku Anglo-kiwi-ostralis. Bos saya pun setiap tahun tak pernah ketinggalan merayakannya, mulai dari ikut parade jalanan hingga yang lebih sederhana, lunch dengan kawannya di club RSL.

Saya bukanlah seorang historian dan Australian history saya … beh, bisa dibilang cetek banget. Maafkan kalau uraian di bawah ini tidak terlalu komprehensif/ akurat.

Asal muasal Hari Anzac berpulang kepada loyalitas kedua koloni ini kepada motherland mereka dan keluarga monarki Inggris tentu saja. Di tengah kancah PDI, Britania menyerukan dan memobilisasi, Selamatkan Eropa Selamatkan Demokrasi. Berangkatlah prajurit AUS dan NZ, dengan perahu tempur sederhana, ke Eropa. Dan tanggal 25 April 1915, mereka melandai di Gallipoli, Turki untuk meruntuhkan blok Fascisme. Dan hari tersebut melihat jatuh dan gelimpangnya putra, abang, cucu, ayah, paman, keponakan kedua negeri kecil ini, puluhan ribu kilometer dari rumah mereka, for a war that wasn’t theirs.

Di Gallipoli, Turki, setiap tahunnya ada pilgrimage, ribuan Australians tua dan muda yang sebelumnya telah tiba di Turki, berkulminasi di pantai Gallipoli, naik bukit, sambil berusaha menyelami apa yang terjadi di hari yang sama 1915. Biasanya ini adalah perjalanan «akil balik» bagi mereka yang kakek/ ayahnya gugur di tempat ini dan mencari jatidiri keluarganya. Berpuncak oleh upacara kecil dan perayaan yang dipimpin seorang pejabat penting, eg. Perdama Menteri atau Gubernur Jenderal Australia.

Di dalam negeri, perayaannya esok pagi berlangsung di penjuru negeri platipus ini. Biasanya ada dawn service, di kota besar dan kecil, di mana mereka melakukan seremoni solemn dan sombre alla militer plus tembakan ke udara dan meriam kosong. Siang harinya ada parade di arteri utama kota – yang ditelevisikan “live”, veterans berseragam korps dan atribut militer diiringi keluarganya – a family friendly event. Diikuti makan siang dan bercengkerama di RSL.

RSL adalah klub yang didirikan seusai PDI. The Returned Serviceman's Leagues, sebuah asosiasi bagi ex-serdadu yang berhasil kembali ke rumah. Dulunya ia sebuah klub tertutup, keanggotaan eksklusif, hanya ditujukan bagi prajurit dan keluarga terdekat mereka. Lalu RSL pun berevolusi, ia menjadi klub terbuka bagi umum.

Salah satu “tradisi” the Anzac Day adalah mereka akan bermain TWO UP, di mana judi ilegal ini akan “diperbolehkan” hanya tanggal 25 April saja, polisi akan turn a blind eye.

Two up singkatnya adalah bentuk permainan judi paling sederhana. Modalnya hanya sebuah koin, masing-masing dari kedua kubu lalu memilih kepala atau buntut (bener ngga sih istilahnya). Misal saya memasang kepala dan bertaruh $10, saat koin dilentingkan dan heads menghadap ke atas, maka saya pun memampas $10 dari sang lawan. Sedangkan si pecundang hanya gigit jari, makin penasaran, dan bertaruh lagi. Lagi. Dan lagi. Itu sebabnya permainan yang populer di antara serdadu Australia dan NZ kala perang dunia akhirnya diilegalkan menjelang tahun 50-an.

Tidak dinyana, Two Up pun ternyata punya aturan dan regulasi, eg. ukuran “arena”, ketinggian minimum lentingan koin, berotasi sufficiently di udara. Bahkan ada beberapa kasino yang menggelarnya. Menurut Wikipedia loh, saya mah bukan penjudi. Sayang banget hard earned dosh ilang dalam sekejap.

ps. April 25 bukan dirayakan sendirian di sini, pun hari penting bagi la Repvbblica italiana, hari Nasional mereka. Adakah yang akan berkisah perayaan 25 April di Italia? Atau di bagian dunia lainnya?

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anzac_Day
Australia and New Zealand commemorate the ANZAC Day public holiday on the 25th of April every year to honour the bravery and sacrifice of the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), and of all those who served their country. ANZAC Day is also a public holiday in Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tonga.

The ANZAC tradition began during World War I with a landing in 1915 at Gallipoli on the Turkish Aegean coast. Because of a navigational error, the ANZACs came ashore about a mile north of the intended landing point. Instead of facing the expected beach and gentle slope they found themselves at the bottom of steep cliffs, offering the few Turkish defenders an ideal defensive position. Establishing a foothold, the Anzacs found an advance to be impossible. After eight months of stalemate, the Allies withdrew, leaving 10,000 dead amongst the Anzacs.

Although numerically the ANZAC were a minority of the half-million Allied men who served at Gallipoli, the troops from the two young nations were often at the vanguard and became renowned for their doggedness despite what the British regarded as a lack of discipline. A full 10% of the New Zealand population (then just under 1 million) served overseas during World War I, and New Zealand had the highest casualty and death rate per capita of any country involved in the war. Australia had the highest casualty rate of any military involved in the war.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-up
Two Up

Rules of the Game

The game is conducted in a flat circle of approximately 20 feet (6 metres) or larger. The only equipment required (aside from materials for tracking bets) is two coins (by tradition pre-decimal pennies), and a flat piece of wood called the "kip" approximately 8 inches in length which has holes carved in it to fit the coins neatly but loosely enough for the coins to come out when tossed.

The game is run by a "boxer", who calls the first "spinner" (one of the players around the circle) in to toss the coins. The spinner wagers an amount of their choice on either "heads" or "tails". Other players around the ring can then also bet on either "heads" or "tails".

Once all bets are taken, the boxer calls "no more bets", and the player tosses the coins in the air using the kip. To be a valid throw, they must go above the head height of the spinner, be rotating sufficiently and land entirely in the ring - if they do not the boxer calls "barred" and the throw is retaken. Ideally the call must occur before the coins settle.

If the coins land both on the same face, the round ends and non-spinning players bets are paid off, with people who bet on the same face as that landed winning. A new round of non-spinner bets is then taken before the spinner throws again.

If the coins come up with one tail and one head, the spinner spins again. If 5 "odds" come up, all players lose and a new spinner is selected.

If the spinner throws his nominated face three times before either 5 "odds" being thrown in a row, or a spin with both coins being the opposite face, the spinner wins and is paid at 7.5 to 1 (in most modern games).