Noise Normalization

Landscape and landmarks have become something common, even normative in talking about the arrangement of cities and the environment. However, talks about soundscapes or sonic environments, soundmarks and smellscapes have not become commonplace, including in discussions in academic circles.

What is categorized as a source of nuisance can vary. The sound of motorbikes with exhausts without silencers, the construction of houses and buildings, the horns of patwal (patrol guards) or voorijder (police opening the road), moge (convoy of big motorbikes) on weekends, the call to prayer and chanting in houses of worship with excessive use of loudspeakers, as well as music at high volume are some examples. Some people are even disturbed by the sound of tofu traders selling their goods with loudspeakers from one housing estate to another. If there is no comprehensive regulation, this will often lead to conflicts or problems.

Also read:

Intervention of the State in Religion

Indeed, there is a different understanding and acceptance in every society regarding the issue of sound. In certain villages that tend to be homogeneous in religion, for example, the sound of the call to prayer five times a day and worship of praise through loudspeakers are considered normality, not noise. However, strangers who are unfamiliar with the sound will perceive it as noise or a nuisance, and may even cause a move away from the place.

Those who live next to the railroad tracks may no longer perceive the repeated roar of the train next to their house as noise.

The sound of barking dogs is not considered a noise nuisance in certain societies, but some people become unable to sleep or work comfortably when they hear it. Those who live next to the railroad tracks may no longer perceive the repeated roar of the train next to their house as noise.

Even though understanding related to noise is relative, in fact, conflicts related to sound often occur. Some time ago, for example, a businessman in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta, pointed a gun at a construction worker because he was disturbed by the construction process of his neighbor's house. In 2016, Meliana, who complained about the sound of loudspeakers from the mosque in front of her house in Tanjungbalai, North Sumatra, had to be imprisoned for two years. Due to disturbance by a noisy motorcycle exhaust, a resident stabbed his neighbor to death. In Medan, a man beat his neighbor with a stone and a spear to death because he was disturbed by music that was too loud (Kompas, 28/7/2019).

Also read:

Religion and the National Education Road Map

As stated by Christina Eviutama Mediastika in the discussion on The Sound of Indonesian Cities held at the BRIN Population Research Center on 22 March 2022, what is originally a civil matter sometimes turns into a criminal matter. Protests against the sound often don't get the response one would expect. In fact, when there is a protest against sound, sometimes the answer is to normalize the noise. Some people respond to the noise protest by saying: "If you don't want to be disturbed by noise, just stay in the graveyard" or "if you want it to be quiet, then stay in the forest" (Mediastika, 2022).

So, when someone complains about the noise, it is the person who complains who is even considered strange or abnormal. Finally, we are forced to increasingly accept the noise and consider it as something that is normal and should not be complained about. Others choose to be silent, not to speak up or complain alone when they hear the noise around them.

The sad data related to the lack of concern for the issue of sound is disclosed by Mediastika. In the last 13 years, there have been only 180 noise-related cases. Of that number, 60 were related to exhaust sounds. Meanwhile, the number of sound cases brought to court in the last 11 years was only 41 cases. Of that amount, 44 percent of them ended in defeat because they were considered not to have legal standing. These are some of the reasons why people take the law into their own hands when dealing with sound cases, such as attacking those who make noise.

The problem of noise is certainly not only related to the ear. As Freek Colombijn wrote in Tooot! Vrooom! The Urban Soundscape in Indonesia (2007), citing a study from the World Health Organization, noise can cause rest and sleep disturbances that have an impact on increasing blood pressure, heart rate amplitude, fatigue and depressed mood. If people listen to noise too often, hypertension and heart disease can occur. Behaviorally, noise also reduces the attitude of helping others and tends to cause people to behave aggressively.

Some time ago, Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas issued Circular Letter No. 5/2022 on guidelines for using loudspeakers in Mosques and mushola (prayer room). This arrangement of loudspeakers is necessary so as not to disturb the surrounding community. A call to prayer or an invitation to eat sahur (predawn meal) in the month of Ramadan is a noble activity that could turn into a public nuisance if conveyed in an inappropriate way, such as shouting out loud at 2 a.m.

In response to the sound from the mosque, there is an interesting case in Manado. As Colombijn wrote, a church there finally installed loudspeakers at the top of its building. There is no special importance and purpose of the installation except to make sound too (just make sound). Similar to places of worship in Indonesia, during the writer's visit to Qadian, India, in 2016, several Gurdwaras (Sikh places of worship) also chanted over loudspeakers every morning before dawn until sunrise.

Finally, looking at the variety of sound issues, the circular of the Religious Affairs Ministry looks sectoral and targets only one aspect of the soundscape issue in Indonesia. Broader rules are needed. If not, we will eventually normalize noise that has a negative impact on health or prompt us to become anarchistic and take the law into our own hands every time we are faced with a sound case.

KOMPAS/YUNIADHI AGUNG

Ahmad Najib Burhani

AHMAD NAJIB BURHANI, Research Professor at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN)

(This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo)