A recent TikTok clip has been making waves online after Malaysian film director and content creator named Rahman Khair shared an instance to his account, @rahmankhair, of him at a grocery store he was at while visiting the country of Lebanon.
While it seemed rather normal at first glance, the grocery store itself was pitch black – with no lights and customers shopping in complete darkness. In the video, Rahman, who was walking around the unlit and ominous store, commented on how random electricity cuts in Lebanon is a fairly normal occurrence.
“So now I am shopping in utter darkness. You can’t really see anything while you’re walking around,” stated Rahman in his TikTok video.
Walking through the aisles of food and groceries, Rahman displayed how chilling his surroundings really were, resembling that of a fictional or even dystopian world.
Speaking to WORLD OF BUZZ, Rahman stated that he went to Lebanon for a business trip, and stayed there for about a week. Having communicated with locals during his time there, Rahman stated that they may only receive proper electricity for two to three hours in a day.
“If they wanted more, they’d have to buy their own generators. For higher-end buildings, they’d have electricity for a slightly longer time, but that’s about it,” said Rahman to WORLD OF BUZZ.
During his stay, Rahman stated that his locale relied largely on solar energy, though there were times where power would unexpectedly cut, so he tried his best to save any accumulated energy he’d get to be used at later times of the day.
According to the World Report 2023, decades of corruption and mismanagement have crippled the electricity sector of the country, as the state is indeed unable to provide more than two to three hours of electricity daily. Aside from that, a Human Rights Watch survey found that the average household had generator bills that accounted for 44% of the monthly income just for their electricity.
“While widespread blackouts affect everyone living in Lebanon, the crisis has exacerbated inequality in the country,” read a portion of the study.
Image for illustration purposes only.
Watch the full TikTok video below:
@rahmankhair Lubnan culas bayar bil TNB #lebanon #humanitarian
What do you think of frequent blackouts being a regular occurrence for the people in Lebanon? Let us know!
