Hi and welcome to my noise nuisance blog. I’m an acoustical consultant and have been working in acoustics and noise control for over 35 years in Europe as well as in Asia.
I’m starting this blog to share my experiences with noise nuisance and give everybody a chance to improve their own noise situation as well as how to be a more considerate citizen regarding noise nuisance.
From time to time I will also review sound and vibration registration products, books, software, soundproofing reviews etc.
In Europe, there are many noise regulations in place, and they are well looked after, updated, and enforced. In Asia however, there is still a lack of regulations, and if there are any noise regulations in place the limits are very high (means allowing a lot of noise nuisance) and hardly enforced. The most developed noise-regulated countries in Asia would be China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea. Most Southeast Asian countries are lacking regulations that will leave their citizens in despair and exposed to dangerously high noise levels.
In my experience as an acoustical consulting engineer, I have been in hundreds of factories, entertainment venues, residences, etc. Especially noise nuisance in residences goes to my heart. I have seen many people really suffering from noise nuisance. People get physically and emotionally overloaded once noise nuisance becomes an issue. It’s really distressing to see people suffering from noise nuisance. In most cases they just must move to another location and hope the situation will be better will less noise pollution.
It’s good to see that in Southeast Asia noise pollution is getting more attention, some countries already have acoustical societies which can have some leverage with governments to implement and enforce noise legislation. Acoustical Societies can also be platforms for people who want to complain about being exposed to noise pollution and get advice on how to improve this by noise mitigation or mediation with the noise polluter. Governments are very busy and not always available or willing to follow up on noise complaints.
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