Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily 16/10/2008 14:50

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EDITORIAL Finding a tranquil and quiet spot in bustling flood-hit central areas
HCMC is no easy task Local firms become
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HCMC can be a painfully loud city. Rice cakes evoke Hue’s
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Making your way from the airport to your hotel, your eardrums will be
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Most people will be cocooned inside a taxi, but this provides slim Company funds university
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of Culture and Information. Finally there is the typically Western usage, as a way to vent anger.

Hotel reviews for the city mention not taking a street-facing room and
balconies are more often a source of headaches rather than tranquility.

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Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily 16/10/2008 14:50

Outdoor restaurants and bars with roof terraces suffer similarly from
intrusive sounds.

It's not just traffic volumes and vehicle horns creating the din.

Construction work is increasingly harder to avoid throughout the city, and

unlike in countries with strict laws about environmental noise levels, work
can last long into the night and at weekends.

Another problem comes when the city opens up its roads to heavy-goods
vehicles at night, which supersize the regular vehicle noise issues.

For those living and working here, there is often an all-too close proximity
to factory machines, street stalls, roadside motorbike mechanics and
markets, the latter of which start receiving goods as early as 3 a.m.

There are wider issues at stake here than simple annoyance.

People are now waking up to the adverse affects that noise pollution can
exert on the human body and mind.

Noise pollution can have more serious consequences, as a study into

‘community noise' conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in
1992 showed.

They found that community noise could lead to hearing impairment, ear
discomfort, speech interference, sleep disturbance, increased stress
levels and can even affect cardiovascular health.

Excessive noise levels can also affect mental health and behavior,
causing changes in mood and increased aggression.

These health effects, in turn, can lead to social problems, reduced

productivity, reduced performance in learning, and absenteeism in the
workplace and school.

In 1999, the WHO produced a set of guidelines for community noise

looking at noise management, quality assurance plans, and the cost-
efficiency of control actions.

The aim of the guidelines was to protect populations from the adverse
health impacts of noise.

The guidelines concluded that governments should consider the

protection of populations from community noise as an integral part of their
policy for environmental protection.

They also believe governments should consider implementing action

plans with short- and long-term objectives for reducing noise levels, as
well as supporting more research related to the health effects of noise
exposure.

If Vietnam wishes to provide an atmosphere that encourages visitors to

return and foreign workers to reside here longer, its government needs to
begin thinking about this.

And if it wishes to protect the well-being of its own citizens, such noise
management schemes have to become an integral part of urban planning
throughout Vietnam.

Currently there are only a few pockets of residential quietude in HCMC:

Phu My Hung in District 7 and District 2's An Phu, both areas heavily
populated by expats.

One can even see signs there forbidding horn usage.

Perhaps one day such signs will appear downtown around tourist
hotspots like Dong Khoi in HCMC, providing some much-needed relief for
everyone's ears.

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Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily 16/10/2008 14:50

Finding a tranquil and quiet spot in bustling HCMC is no easy task

Reported by Neil Fitzgerald

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