Nation of hearing impaired

I visited the "Zither Hall" in Hamburg Germany on several occasions, a restaurant which was once a large theatre and which seats several hundred guests, where I had dinner and a beer or two.

The noise level was quite low and you could converse easily without having to shout. Also the "Bavarian" band which was on stage in their full native attire, was able to render a series of pleasant soft music without the aid of electronic amplification for everyone to hear clearly and without having to resort to the "Shake and Wine" antics that seem to have become an imperative part of local music if it can be classified as music at all.

The noise generated by musicians and singers at public venues such as Skinner Park, especially when the wind is blowing in a southerly direction, is disturbing to residents as far away as Bel Air and points further south.

In a past era when music bands such as Bert McLean, Tom Durham and Polly Forts played at Country Club, Perseverance Club and Palm Beach Club on a regular basis, they were able to play to a packed audience without the aid of any electronic amplification and were enjoyed by the entire audience with great ease. By present day standards even a "Home Fete" in a small house must have music loud enough to shake loose the nails in the galvanised roof and disturb the entire neighbourhood for miles around.

But excessive noise is not limited to fete alone, some drivers have their radios and decks turned up so high that the sound becomes completely distorted to the stage where only the thumping of the bass and the rattling of the speakers can be heard. The same applies to car exhaust systems which are so loud that they can easily be heard after the car has passed and gone half a mile or more down the road.

Although we have such institutions as the EMA, the Police Service and the Licensing Office who should be dealing with the many forms of noise pollution that occur on a constant basis and should be enforcing the laws that are in existence. Little if anything seems to be done to curb the worsening problem, leaving me to believe that they are all drawing money under false pretences and are in gross dereliction of their duty. In fact, noise has become such a common ingredient of everyday life that even most of the advertisements displayed on TV are so loud and abrasive that it has become necessary to keep one’s finger on the "Mute" button of the remote control while viewing.

It seems as though it has also become necessary to portray a female in the process of "wining" her backside all over the place, in order to get the message of the product across. It must be the price of progress no doubt?

MARTIN KAVANAGH

La Romaine