Hello!!! The other day I was at my friend’s house trying to do work, but then I realised that every now and then I was getting distracted by a noise. It was the LRT that was just outside her house at Phoenix Station! That got me thinking about how Singapore has been greatly affected by noise pollution and we may not even realise it! Hence, today, this will be primary focus: The noise pollution in Singapore and the different regulations put in place by NEA!
In an article posted by Straits Times dated back to April 2017, it talks about the noisiest neighbourhoods in Singapore. They reported that in a study font NUS audiologist William Hal Martin and graduate student Diong Huey Ting, they found out that the top 5 noisiest neighbourhoods in Singapore were (Ng, 2017):
- Serangoon (73.1 decibels)
- Orchard (72.8 decibels)
- Outram (72.8 decibels)
- Bukit Timah (72.6 decibels)
- Clementi (71.8 decibels)
In general, the mean noise level in Singapore is 69.4 decibels, which is just missing the mark of the World Health Organisation guideline of 70 decibels (Ng and Tang, 2017). However, this is higher than NEA’s own guideline of 67 decibels average over an hour. These noises could possibly come from different sources such as traffic near houses, MRT lines, construction and home renovations. Some of these noises may even come from overhead flying planes. In Singapore, NEA has different guidelines regarding the acceptable maximum noise level (in decibels) for construction areas, industrial errors and even vehicular noise and how they affect surrounding buildings such as hospital, schools and old folk homes. Below is a screen shot from NEA’s webpage regarding construction noise control (NEA, n.d.):
Source: NEA Webpage (https://www.nea.gov.sg/our-services/pollution-control/noise-pollution/construction-noise-control)
In order to reduce noise pollution that arises from construction sites, NEA put in place the Quieter Construction Fund to encourage construction companies to make use of construction technology that are quieter or better noise control equipment (Tan, 2019). They provide funding to these construction companies when they choose to purchase the quieter construction equipment (NEA, 2019).
Thank you for reading though my blogpost and I will see you next time!
Reference:
National Environment Agency. 2020. Quieter Construction Fund. [online] Available at: <https://www.nea.gov.sg/programmes-grants/grants-and-awards/quieter-construction-fund>
National Environment Agency. n.d. Construction Noise Control. [online] Available at: <https://www.nea.gov.sg/our-services/pollution-control/noise-pollution/construction-noise-control>
Ng, J. and Tang, F., 2017. Living with noise pollution: Serangoon, Bukit Timah and Clementi among the noisiest neighbourhoods in Singapore. The Straits Times, [online] Available at: <https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/sounds-awful-cant-sleep-cant-talk-because-of-noise>
Tan, B., 2019. Noise pollution can be just as harmful and should be tackled. The Straits Times, [online] Available at: <https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/noise-pollution-can-be-just-as-harmful-and-should-be-tackled> [Accessed 7 November 2020].
Featured Image:
ZKang123, 2020. This Is A Photomontage, To Illustrate The Busy Jurong East Station In Singapore With Its Many Train Services.. [image] Available at: <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NS1_EW24_Jurong_East_MRT_exterior_20200918_173458_cropped.jpg>