Title of article: Sound Blaster
Author: Benson Ang
Publication: The Straits Times
Date of article: 07/01/2007
Recently, there has been a new trend among teenagers in Singapore: playing music through loudspeakers while taking public transport, such as MRT trains and buses. This trend is known as “sound blasting”. There have been many complaints from the public, describing this behaviour to be inconsiderate towards the other passengers. When interviewed, some teenagers claimed to be unaware of their inconsiderate actions, while others were unconvinced that their actions are causing a nuisance to the other passengers.
I personally have encountered with incidents of sound blasting before. Once I was on a MRT train, there was a middle-aged uncle who was playing Hokkien songs through his mobile phone. Although nobody said anything, I could see that many commuters around him were unpleased with his actions. From this incident, it seems like not only the teenagers are practicing “sound blasting”, even adults are doing so too.
Many people think that the songs that they like are the songs that most people will like, thus, they do not think that it will be a problem if they play the music out loud, as other commuters will get to enjoy it too. However, the truth is, even if the songs these teens are playing are the most popular pop songs, there may still be people who do not like these songs. Furthermore, many commuters often want to enjoy peace after a hard day’s work, and do not want to be disturbed by these music.
An easy alternative to “sound blasting” is to use earphones. Earphones are cheap, portable, and lightweight, and best of all, they let you enjoy your music without interrupting others. Earphones often also provide music of higher quality compared to loudspeakers on mobile phones and other similar devices. By using earphones, it shows that you are considerate and have civil mindedness.
Other commuters can also help to reduce sound blasting. Whenever there is anybody who is practicing sound blasting, it would help to walk up to the person, and request him to kindly reduce the volume of the music. I believe if these “blasters” are asked nicely, they would also have no reason to turn you down.
Playing music in MRT trains and buses may be a good way to relive stress and reduce boredom, but it should be done with consideration for others, and "sound blasting” definitely is not one of the ways to do so.
