Netizens urge greater tolerance among Singaporeans after a resident complained about loud music coming from wakes and funerals

SINGAPORE: A woman, unhappy with the loud music played at a wake, took to social media to express her dissatisfaction, arguing, “We really need to do something about it.”

On the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE Facebook group page on Monday morning (Dec 2), Janet Lo posted a nearly two-minute video filmed from an open window overlooking an estate where loud music is playing.

She added that some people work at different times than others—giving the examples of people who work night shifts, have conference calls at home, and do recordings for a living. This entails having relatively quiet environments at home during the daytime for work or rest.

Ms Lo said the music and singing had been playing loudly for over an hour.

“Should there be some governance to limit the noise level or duration of music played by funeral vehicles and wake? Residentials are very saturated in Singapore. We really need to do something about it.”

In traditional Chinese culture, loud music is believed to keep evil spirits away and has also come to symbolize that the departed is popular and highly esteemed.

However, in Singapore, where space is limited, there are times when the needs of residents compete with one another, as in the case shown by Ms Lo’s post.

Commenters on her post encouraged her to exercise more tolerance, given that the funeral would end and the “blasting” loud music would not be a daily occurrence.

One Facebook user urged her to close her windows and turn on her air conditioner to minimize the sound.

Another told her she might consider choosing an upper floor next time she moves into a home, as the higher a unit is, the less sound can be heard.

Ms Lo explained, however, that not only was she 200 meters away from the music source, but there was also a dialysis centre nearby, and she asked other commenters to imagine how the patients were feeling.

She also said that she had closed her windows and had noise-cancelling headphones on, but the sound was “beyond the acceptable noise level.”

The Independent Singapore has contacted Ms Lo for further comments or updates. /TISG

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