I think NOISE POLLUTION is the forgotten sibling of the more popular air pollution issue in Hong Kong. Ever since the approval of the West Island Line, apartment units have been selling like hot cakes in the vicinity of the 3 new stations.
I am unfortunately a victim of this transaction since the end result of all successful settlement is essentially NOISE POLLUTION, because the first thing landlords to do their new acquisition is to knock down walls and send in the power drills! The noise generated the renovators conveniently does not bother the landlords but their poor new neighbours.
Noise pollution is unlike air pollution where people can pretend it is not there. Sure you may not be able to see across Victoria Harbour on a smoggy day, so what? People are usually sitting inside their air conditioned offices, homes or shopping malls, or travelling from one air conditioned room to another, always in an air conditioned transport. So, as long as you are not outdoors long enough, air pollution is not a nuisance. It is different with noise pollution, it follows you everywhere in Hong Kong.
Any outsider will agree that Hong Kongers are probably one of the loudest people on the planet, I swear almost all of them were born with the lungs of a Drill Sargent in order to create that kind of volume. Press Play on the below clip to experience an everyday public transport ride in Hong Kong.
On top of that, add the following factors to the equation:
- Traffic noise - double decker buses, goods trucks, mini buses
- Pets - small dog syndrome (I believe small dogs are planning a secret invasion of Hong Kong)
- Street noise - a nuisance when generated by human loud speakers
- Constructions - building buildings
- Renovations - always involving power drills
- Road works - always digging somewhere and involving (power) drills
As for me, I have been plagued by the sound of power drills in the past 3 months. Beside the constant street noise, noise from renovation is my biggest bitch. In the beginning, it was renovation being done on the 3rd floor of my building, I thought it was just a temporary thing, how wrong was I when I heard power drills and hammering noises escaping from my next door neighbour's wall. Imagine my pain for the past 2 months as the whole unit being re-designed all over and my joy when the renovators finished painting the place.
To my dismay, the noise is not going away as it is now 8th floor's turn to create havouc, with 2 power drills going off at the same time, echoing each other. One may think renovations done on other floors should not affect my unit, but the noise generated by power drill is so powerful that it ricochets across the building via the walls, taking away all sense of peacefulness and quietness.
By the way these units are selling, the noise of the power drill is hanging around like a curse. My home used to be my sanctuary from noisy Hong Kong, but it is only an illusion. Hello air pollution, welcome to my nightmare.