Turn down the noise after midnight, please

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Susan Ramsay |
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I am writing to express my opinion about the elderly dancing and singing in public areas. There’s one problem in particular I’d like to discuss, as well as suggest a solution to it.

Every night in Mong Kok, there are many groups of people playing music on speakers and singing with microphones. They are very loud and the noise usually carries on long after midnight. As Mong Kok is a residential area as well as a commercial one, the noise can be really disruptive and keep residents awake, which is annoying.

To address this problem, I would suggest that these singers turn off their music at midnight. Also, the government should introduce laws to ban unnecessary noise after 9pm or offenders will be fined.

This would mean a better living environment for residents and a better night’s sleep!

Bonnie Lau, Tak Nga Secondary School

From the Editor

Thank you for your email, Bonnie. It’s one of those unfortunate facts that when you live in a crowded city you will find people doing annoying things. To make life easier, cities have laws called ordinances to deal with these things.

Hong Kong has the Noise-Control Ordinance, which deals with, among other things, noise from domestic premises (homes) and public places. Section 4 of the ordinance deals with noises that annoy a person at night, from 11pm to 7am, or on a general holiday. So you are quite within your rights to phone the police after 11pm and ask them to stop the elderly people making such a noise.

Section 5 of the ordinance is about noise at any time of the day or night, made by birds, musical instruments, loudspeakers, games, trades, businesses, or air conditioners. So this means that you can complain to the police about people who break these laws.

The police will probably just tell them to reduce the noise or go home, and after this happens a few times, the rebel grannies and grandads will make less noise.

Susan, Editor

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