Listen to the Silence: The Noise Issue in Yangon

Listen to the Silence: The Noise Issue in Yangon 

Zeng Yifan 

1. Introduction 

"What is the main negative impact in your life?" In a survey delivered by one of the former groups at Winter School 2019, most participants in Myanmar reported noise as the most harmful factor that affected their happiness level. The result is quite counterintuitive, since comparing with other kinds of pollution, the noise issue in Myanmar seems to be the moderate one (Pollution in Yangon, Myanmar, 2020). However, it is precisely from its moderation we can see how significant the impact of a noisy environment is to people's healthy life. In other words, the noise is a slow poison: even a small dose each day could result in severe consequences. 

Though the word "noise" has many different meanings in different fields, noise here means an unwanted and unpleasant sound (Noise, 2020). To be disturbing, noise doesn't need to be very loud. When it propagates and do harm to human or animal, it can be referred to as noise pollution (Noise Pollution, 2020). 

Noise can have a detrimental effect on wildlife by interfering with their messages exchange through sound, especially those related to reproductive behavior. It can even cause death to the species which highly rely on sound communication (Noise Pollution, 2020). For example, in the Northeast and Northwest Providence Channels of the Bahamas Islands, 17 cetaceans were discovered beaching themselves after hearing military sonar (England et al., 2001). It can cause physiological problems such as high heart rate and blood pressure, respiratory disorder, and general stress reaction. The same physiological effects are also found on human-beings who overexpose to noise. Moreover, noise would impact people's sleep quality and impede the development of cognitive function of children. Hearing loss, headache, and cardiovascular disorder are the common consequences of living with high level of noise pollution (Barone, 2017). In fact, as one of the noisiest region, it was presumed that through 2023, demand for acoustic insulation in the Asia/Pacific region is expected to grow 6.3% per annum to $4.3 billion, representing 46% of value growth worldwide (The Freedonia Group, 2019). 

In the present study, we measured the environmental sound level in one of Myanmar's major cities, Yangon. An online survey and personal interviews about local people's attitudes towards noise pollution in their daily life were carried out. By doing this, we hoped to look for some insights into the noise situation and provide viable solutions. 

2. Data Collection 

2.1 Method 

Figure 1| The user interface of Decibel Sound Meter Pro. The app records sound while calculating the maximum, minimum, average, as well as real-time sound level and spectrum. 

Figure 2| Locations of environmental noise measurement, indicated by red dots (around the Sule Pagoda). 

Noise Measurement 

The sound level was measured in the downtown area on 18 different spots (see Fig.1). A phone app called Decibel Sound Meter Pro (http://dbmeterpro.com/, see Fig. 2) was used to measure the noise in Decibel (dB). At each spot, we recorded the environmental sound for 5 minutes and took down the average sound level. 

Online questionnaire and in-person interviews 

Fifty-two locals participated in our online survey (https://freeonlinesurveys.com/s/wqATSi44), five responses were discarded for incomplete or inconsistent answers. The questions were written in English and then translated to Burmese. The questionnaire was made up of 3 sections, each aiming at their background information, subjective feeling of the noise in Yangon (rated on 7 points scales), and their action or suggestion. 

In addition to the online survey, we also randomly interviewed 15 locals in the rural area on the same topic, which also contributed to our results. 

2.2 Result 

Noise Level 

The result showed that in our 18 measurements, the mean sound level was 74 dB, ranging from 73 to 81 dB. While those places included high-density housing, the noise level there was well above the World Health Organization's value of 50 dB allowed for residential area and exceeded the threshold of 55 dB at which noise becomes harmful to health. Therefore, the noise pollution in Yangon was very high. 

Survey and Interviews 

We asked participants to give a rating on the overall impact of noise from very positive (1) to very negative (7) firstly (see Fig. 3a). The means score was 5.18 and significantly higher than 4 (t(46) = 5.033, p<.001, two-tailed), which means they felt noise did harm their daily life. 

To further understand how noise affected people, sleep quality, hearing damage, and stress level were rated. The mean scores were 4.68, 4.32, and 2.36, respectively (see Fig. 3bcd). While the score of stress level was significantly higher than 4 (t(46) = 2.774, p<.01, two-tailed), the rating of sleep quality showed no statistical difference (p>.05). Moreover, the score of hearing damage was significantly lower than 4 (t(46) = -7.662, p<.001, two-tailed). Though the participants generally feel negatively impacted by noise, it only affected their stress level. To investigate whether the age, gender, and length of time for which participants had stayed in Yangon influenced these three variables, several statistic tests, including Spearman correlation test were carried out, but nothing was found significant. 

We also asked them about the primary source of noise. Among all possible choices we listed in the questionnaire, traffic and social activities were considered to be the most influential noise source and were chosen by 74% and 70% of participants. As for the time aspect, morning (7:00-12:00) and evening (18:00-24:00) were reported to be the noisiest period in a day. 

Figure 3| The frequency histogram of responses to the items focusing on how noise affect people. The participants were instructed to rate their feeling on a 7-point scale. The higher score means the severity of the health problem was higher. 

On the contrary, though most people were bothered by noise pollution, not many people actually took actions against the problem. In the study, 85% of participants reported themselves being unempowered, and only three people (2 shopkeepers and a teacher) have tried to inform the official authorities. 

3. Solution 

There are three types of noise regulation, targeting at listener, propagation, and source. While those solutions, such as putting on earplugs that helping listeners to reduce noise influence, are alleviating the problem without fixing it, the following section will not bring them into an in-depth discussion. Instead, we are going to focus on reducing sound pollution from its sources and propagating process. 

Take the urban area in Yangon where we carried out the field research for example. While containing residences named "Hong Kong Building", it is also a commercial center with several markets and high-density population. In consequence, it faces substantial traffic problems. Combining with the data, attention should be paid to the noise created by vehicles and social activities (e.g., religious ceremony and street sales). 

For vehicles, provisions should be made to restrict the use of specific equipment. For instance, brake should be only used for safety purpose in the residential areas to reduce the average noise output. Horn's sound level should be limited to a specific level at a prescribed distance. Excessive use of horns, except for safety reasons, should be prohibited. Vehicles should be equipped with adequate mufflers or sound dissipation devices, which lower the sound level the original equipment creates. It would be even better if the pavement could be built with asphalt since the porous structure can effectively reduce the sound when vehicles pass by. 

Meanwhile, provisions should also be made to limit social activities, such as donation carts and street sales within a specific time range (e.g., 6 pm to 10 am in the next day, according to the investigation). During this period, the use of loudspeakers should be banned. Street sales should be prohibited around places such as schools, and peddling of vendors should be restricted to an acceptable volume even outside of these places. In general, setting up a noise restrict zone in the residential areas with curfew would significantly improve the noise situation. 

On the other hand, to lower the noise volume during propagation, the government should take action to increase the coverage of green plants, since they can create beautiful landscapes, clean the air, as well as absorbing noise. It is said that areas with woods generate less noise by more than 10 dB than bare regions. A hedgerow of 4-meter-wide can lower the noise by 6 dB. Acoustic barriers would also contribute to reducing the noise level in a similar way. 

According to our research, it is also an important step to improve citizens' awareness of noise pollution. In addition to proper education at schools and propaganda on the streets and media, an online noise map which allows access to the noise data at any place for ordinary people would help them build up the concept to lower their noise output while setting up a dynamic monitoring system in the general public. 

Though easily overlooked, noise is a severe problem that threatening people's health, especially in developing countries. As Buddha used to say, "If you go to the village/town, you must walk, speak, laugh, sit, eat...very quietly." Keeping silent is not only a way to create a quiet environment for others but also a path to our inner peace. Therefore, the ideal solution would be starting to reduce noise output from ourselves in daily life. Follow the golden rule, do unto others as you want them to do unto you. 

Reference 

Barone, J. (2017, February 10). Sounding Off on Noise. Retrieved from Berkeley Wellness: https://www.berkeleywellness.com/healthy-community/environmental-health/article/sounding-noise 

England, G. R. (2001). Joint interim report Bahamas marine mammal stranding event of 15–16 March 2000. US Department of Commerce, US Secretary of the Navy. 

Noise. (2020, March 7). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noise 

Noise Pollution. (2020, March 26). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noise_pollution 

Pollution in Yangon, Myanmar. (2020, March). Retrieved from Numbeo: https://www.numbeo.com/pollution/in/Yangon 

The Freedonia Group. (2019, May 30). Guangzhou and Beijing Rank as Two Loudest Cities in the World. Retrieved from Cision PR Newswire: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/guangzhou-and-beijing-rank-as-two-loudest-cities-in-the-world-300859461.html