Noise, Noise, Noise...

Noise, noise, noise. We have to live with noise every day. Ever since I moved into this new flat, I am getting more and more used to living with noise. As the flat is right beside a main road and a MRT track, so it is something that is inevitable, and hence I am kind of an 'expert' on noise.

Basically there are three types of noise, or four if you count the minor one as well.

1st type of noise is, of course, from the MRT train. It has a deep bass, and sounds like a cow. The frequency actually is not that high. The noise will stop after midnight and begins again around 5.30 in the morning. You know it is about time to wake up and get to work:D

2nd type of noise is from cars, lorries, trucks and buses. Out of all these, buses seem to have the worst noise performance. You can hardly miss the passing by of a bus. It is followed by the cabs. Cabs make higher frequency noises, and it is less bearable to human ears (means, my ears). It gets quite irritating when a cab passes by in the wee hours of the day.

3rd type of noise, and the worst of all, is the noise from motorbikes. It sounds like a musical instrument that has been badly manufactured, poorly tuned, but with a loud speaker attached. If you measure the harmonic distortion, properly you can find all the high frequency harmonics. Is this noise avoidable? I must say YES! In the 1st world country, with a 1st world garment, and people in white at the helm, I don't believe it can't be done. Yet, nobody has done anything to it. We can only train our poor ears to tolerate the distasteful noise.

4th type is household noise. I can hear the guy upstairs using his/her toilet, flushing the toilet, pour water onto the floor. Can I complain about the guy upstairs? Of course not! Why? Properly the guy downstairs can the noise I make when I pee, too! Our world class building board builds homes with paper thin walls, but yet still can sell the match boxes at a premium price.