Noise is annoying

It's annoying when you are woken up by noise. For example, I was sleeping one morning and my little sister suddenly opened and closed my bedroom door.

The noise woke me up and, to make matters worse, she kept on 'playing' with the door. I couldn't sleep anymore.

Everyone hates noise. It is disturbing and even harmful. It puts people in a bad mood. It affects their concentration and performance.

Noise comes from a lot of things, from vehicles, construction sites to a mahjong game.

We cannot wear earplugs all the time to keep out the noise. So please don't make an unnecessary 'racket' and disturb others.

Let's all lead peaceful lives, free from needless disturbances.

Yu Yik-fan, STFA Tam Pak Yu College

From the Editor

Hear! Hear! Thanks for the letter, Yik-fan. Hong Kong is a very noisy city. But really, it is not people that make the noise. The loud noises of continual construction, those clickers at pedestrian crossings, the loud announcements on the MTR and other 'background' noise constantly invade us.

We know from studies that people who live near high-noise areas - such as an airport - do suffer from more stress-related illnesses. While it would be disingenuous to single out noise as a 'stress' factor in Hong Kong, it undoubtedly plays its part.

At the moment, though, there seems to be no solution to most of the noise problems except public complaint.

Susan, Editor