Saturday, June 11, 2011

Taiwan's electronic megaphone noise pollution

Megaphone noise pollution
Read the same post in Chinese here>>

One thing that really surprised me in Taiwan (especially in and around Taipei) is how Taiwanese accept noise pollution without ever complaining. Garbage trucks, cars, scooters, fire crackers, religious parades, shouting vendors, all of these noisemakers are seen as normal here, nobody (except me) seems to be bothered by them. But the worst of them all must be the electronic megaphones, which are usually put next to tea shops, sometimes on night markets. If I stand next to one for half a minute, I'm almost going nuts. But you Taiwanese just accept that. How come? In my country, if someone would use these megaphones for "advertising", people would call the police on them.

See the video below of one of these annoying megaphones I took in Xinzhuang:

I wonder how can the tea shop owner listen to this every day over and over again?

This is where Taiwan (the big cities) and I are worlds apart. I grew up in a house surrounded by a forest, where chirping birds woke me up every morning. I think, if I return home one day, my ears will need some time to adapt to the noiselessness and tranquility. I wonder, if they can.

[My UNIQUELY TAIWAN post][Photo and video by MKL, 2011]

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