The Star Online: Metro: Central
The Star Online: Metro: Central |
| Posted: 22 Apr 2013 07:35 AM PDT The hustle and bustle of city life can be overwhelming for those who seek quiet time after work and on weekends. I think it is time to break the silence on making a racket, not badminton rackets. I am referring to noise of course and, oh boy, there is never a shortage of that here. Working in textile manufacturing has always been a noisy job. It is part and parcel of weaving, there is no avoiding it, which is probably why after 10 stressful, hot and noisy hours at work, I like my quiet time. I like to drive when there are fewer cars and I like to spend time in quiet places either cycling or walking. I don't like clubs anymore, despite being a deejay many years ago. I now prefer a nice chat with a few cool beers rather than the screaming and shouting of dinners in restaurants. I like my zen time to be zen. In the UK, I lived out in the countryside and life was quiet in the quiet time and noisy at work, it had a great balance and I was very happy. Moving to Kuala Lumpur was a culture shock of the most abrupt kind; the city is inherently busy, bustling and extremely noisy. In the UK we have times that are acceptable to make noise and times that are definitely not. For example, you cannot sound your car horn between 11pm and 7am. The same applies to loud music, parties, general noise, screaming and shouting, they are all classed as public disturbance. Some things we can't avoid. For instance the bird that lives outside my apartment window that sings at 4am, then goes quiet again till 5am and then again till 6am, and has obviously recently gone on holiday and been replaced by the "woo woo" bird, you know the one that that always sounds overexcited but he is lazy and doesn't wake up till 6am. I am woken almost daily by the noise of lorries, sports cars and motorcycles with broken or over-inflated exhaust pipes in the early hours of the morning and amusingly enough, 6am Saturday morning in Plaza Mont Kiara is as busy as any weekday evening, with double parking and lots of what look like foreign students arguing, shouting and urinating in bushes. There are reports in the UK of court cases because of noise and people have been locked up — it is serious to disturb the public peace but difficult for individuals to try to deal with it themselves, especially in Asia where a blind eye is an easy solution to any problem. With drunken people from youths to senior citizens making noise in the carpark at 2am and 3am, I have been forced to shout at them, which usually results in a quick end to the problem that the security personnel seem hard-pressed to deal with. However, what happens when it's contractors? Are there laws against excessive noise? I'm pretty sure contractors are prohibited from making noise between 5pm and 8am Monday to Saturday, which is most usually upheld, but recently I had an eye-opening experience when a utility company dug the carpark outside my apartment at 2am with a huge digger and several trucks. I captured a video of it as it was too surreal to miss. When I called the helpline the person explained that the reason was power outages, though I was standing in my hall with the lights on. I expressed my amazement that a corporate company would do this, only to have the call hung up on me. I certainly did not expect this from a public company. When I spoke to friends about it the common response was "Welcome to Malaysia mate, they probably just thought you were another loud-mouth mat salleh making noise and ignored you," which actually made me smile because though I am opinionated, I am still polite and considerate of others' thoughts and feelings and I know exactly what my friend meant as I recalled one mat salleh chap making a huge stink at a restaurant because his whisky soda was not right. He made so much noise my friend and I left; we are not all so quiet you see. So if I am not hearing someone talking on their mobile phone at high volume about multi-million dollar deals, it is someone scolding and cursing with foul language and foaming mouth, as if everyone needs or wants to know their personal matters. People in general seem to find it difficult to translate problems constructively without losing control and shouting and screaming, and as I said before, just taking a little dinner in certain places can be a very, very noisy experience. Of course, I don't want to walk into a bar or restaurant that is as quiet as a morgue. Malaysia has many vibrant places that are abuzz with chat, music, laughter and city sounds, but it's only looked upon as vibrant when it's not on your doorstep. In many places in the UK, a noisy individual would be asked by other people to keep the noise down. People are forthcoming in speaking their mind, it helps to get things done and problems fixed. It would seem from my experience in Malaysia, at least, that people are very sensitive to being told that something is wrong and their reaction may range from getting upset to getting violently (and noisily) angry. I was even threatened at a coffee outlet when a friend asked the carpark attendant to turn down (not off) his laptop that was playing loud dance music right next to our table. After about five minutes, a large unfriendly chap showed up and started shouting at us after the attendant called him. Were we in the wrong? I think not. So the rule of "I want to do what I want" is in force and the "What can you do about it?" attitude is the answer to moving forward. The lack of EQ that is happily the measure of defining one's character seems far easier to adopt as a persona than trying to understand the feelings of others and to work out a "win-win" situation. I don't want to shout at drunken old men, young people or the employees of public companies at 2am when I have work the next day, it's like trying to put out a fire with petrol. I can't do much about Mr "woo, woo" bird, though I do wish he'd learn another song. And my advice to cellphone users is, save yourself the monthly costs and just shout at the person you want to contact, because at that volume they can probably hear you on the moon. But seriously, if we can't rely on public services to be managed correctly and create, define and uphold standards, what can we rely on? Well, for me, I think unless I move out of the city I guess it will be a case of "No rest for the wicked" and I will have to enjoy those brief snatches of zen that the weekend brings. So until the next time it's a fond "Woo, woo, woo, woo" from me… A weaver by trade and general manager by profession, Rob has been residing in Malaysia the past 10 years after moving here from England in search of adventure and professional experience. He's a proud Hasher, a serious music lover and absent diver. |
| Posted: 21 Apr 2013 04:01 PM PDT BUDDING athlete Zaimah Atifah is setting her sights on showing greater potential at the four-day Kuala Lumpur schools (MSSWPKL) athletics meet at the SMK Seri Permaisuri Mini Stadium in Cheras starting today. The SMK Bandar Tasik Selatan Form Two student will be vying for honours in three individual events — 400m, 800m and 1,500m — in the girls' Under-15 category. Although she was not fielded in the 800m at the MSSWPKL Bangsar zone athletics meet earlier last month, Zaimah said she was prepared to rise to the occasion and improve on her current personal best of 2:34 in the 800m at the championships. "I am delighted to be allowed in the 800m race. My aim is to prove that I deserve the chance and I am a worthy competitor in one of my favourite events," she said. At the recent Bangsar zone meet, Zaimah sprang a surprise when she clocked 5:38 to renew the meet's record for 1,500m in the girls' Under-15 group. She also captured the gold medal with another personal best hand-timed effort of 60.8s in the 400m. Based on her current form, Zaimah admitted that it was beyond her reach to break the Bangsar zone record in the 400m. "It was great to chalk up a modest progress, bettering my previous best of 60.9s in the early part of the season. The current record holder has set a very high standard for others to match," said Zaimah. Last month, Zaimah also finished 13th in the girls' Under-15 group at the national schools (MSSM) cross country in Kelantan. MSSWPKL athletics technical chairman Hisham Mustaza Ibrahim said Zaimah had also showed that she was a good sprinter by clocking an encouraging 26.7s in the 200m sprint recently. "It is premature for her to specialise and solely concentrate on certain events. We are continuing to expose her to other areas to become a more versatile athlete with all-round qualities. She will definitely have to push harder to fend off the stiff challenges from stronger competitors in the ongoing MSSWPKL meet," he said. "The MSSWPKL will serve as an avenue for the selectors to get a clearer picture before naming her for suitable individual events at the MSSM (to be held in Pahang from May 19 to 23). "She is certainly an asset in beefing up the MSSWPKL squad for the MSSM. She will have another year on her side to stamp her mark in the Under-15 group." |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Star Online: Metro: Central To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan