From Mr S.J. Compagno

We are a loud nation – as simple as that. We speak loudly, we behave noisily. We are a nation that disguises its “Loud Disease” with the excuse that being loud is part of our culture. Being loud and noisy is not part of culture, it’s called lack of manners and respect. Let’s take some daily examples.

We have no respect for others when it comes to timing our “loudness” and “noise levels”. Be it midnight or one o’clock in the afternoon, we are always ready to call out to our neighbours opposite our house from our balcony, making sure that the whole street hears us. We are ready to honk our horn as hard as we can instead of actually parking and ringing the doorbell when we pick someone up. Don’t these people know that mobiles can be used to phone and hang up to let them know they are there behind their door waiting? Do we really need to be so noisy and honk the horn at all times... even at 3am!

What about the “mobile discos”, or in other words the supersonic sound systems we have in our VRT passed cars? People with sound systems go around the streets with loud music – full bass going full blast – ready to bumm bumm everywhere they go without showing a bit of respect. As far as I know, this is called “noise pollution” and any form of noise pollution is equivalent to noise nuisance, and should therefore be observed by law. But then again, some policemen are just too lousy to actually take action because they know Salvu or Peppu... or perhaps they even have a sound system in their own cars! I am not condemning people for actually enjoying music, but there is a limit to what we call “personal enjoyment” as these people have no respect. We have a big problem in Malta when it comes to space; even a single sneeze can be heard by people walking by, let alone these sound systems. My suggestion is... licence them. If they think they can drive safely with that kind of loud music, which actually distracts their attention, then they should be tested. Driving around with such loud music is bound to disturb one’s concentration and it also blocks out the sound of horns of other cars. When are the police going to pull up their socks, and their belts out from under their ever-growing bellies, and take real action? People are stressed out because of such car owners doing whatever they want, whenever they want and playing crap music.

When are we going to learn to respect each other and stop being so loud?

Steve J. Compagno

FGURA