Mosque loudspeakers

centurion said:
Oh my, how many islamophobes in one place...you should enjoy the prayer calls and not look down to your neighbors. This is just the way they do things.

I enjoyed the prayer calls for some years, and I moved to another area. No more enjoying prayer calls.
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I think most people here would be totally fine with the five daily prayer calls. The frustration comes when mosque loudspeakers are used for other purposes (eg: sermons, announcements, neighborhood kids playing around, etc)
 
I love listening to the calls for prayer in places like Dubai or Bahrain, the sound is amazing.
This criticism has nothing to do with the religion itself, but of those who are abusing it in Indonesia and thereby creating societal problems. I mean if you can't see an issue with that level of noise pollution, which is comparable to other kinds of pollution (traffic, haze, smoking etc) we find here, then I'm not sure what to say. Anyway I'm sure Josef Kalla will sort out the problem once and for all.
 
One way to beat the loudspeaker is “early to bed and early to rise”, say you sleep at 9pm and wake up at 4am. However, if you do business with US companies and trade futures, you can’t sleep until about midnight. And especially if you are a light sleeper, you are woken up by the mosque. So you become sleep deprived as you have to go to office in the morning. You try to sound-proof your bedroom but the feeling is like suffocation even with the aircon at full blast as no fresh air is coming in. I can sleep with that every night before the pandemic but now I want more outside air, so I open some windows with the aircon blowing too.
 
I have lived over 1 year in Cairo (80'), a few months in K.L., and some time in KSA and Dubai, and it wasn't the same as here in Indo. Very bearable. In Cairo in fact, living at the outskirts of the city and VERY close to a mosque, I found that the calls for prayers and the desert were a nice combination.

But guys, nobody forced you to live where you live.... I mean you choose it voluntarily (for whatever reason), so complaining about it is a bit odd IMO.
Personally I can bear it for 1 week, max 10 days when at the Missus village in Java, but no way I would bear with it "full time".
The bands on Mertasari Beach are much better as musical background !
 
fastpitch17 said:
I have that 5 times a day. Can't pronounce the words, gets stuck, mouth is right on the mic, and yelling at the top of his voice. Drives us crazy.
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No need to be driven crazy by something that you can control. Move, problem solved. Plenty of spaces around the world that don't have loud speakers.
 
Hawk256 said:
No need to be driven crazy by something that you can control. Move, problem solved. Plenty of spaces around the world that don't have loud speakers.
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Over-ear, closed back headphones. I recommend V-Moda brand. Not too expensive, solid metal build, proper case, and the rich bass will render any outside noise obsolete.
 
Balifrog said:
But guys, nobody forced you to live where you live.... I mean you choose it voluntarily (for whatever reason), so complaining about it is a bit odd IMO.
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Hawk256 said:
No need to be driven crazy by something that you can control. Move, problem solved. Plenty of spaces around the world that don't have loud speakers.
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You can actually enjoy living in your host country and comment about its negative aspects at the same time. Who would have thought?

I am certain that most of us who live here long term have weighed the pros and cons and have decided that the pros outweigh the cons.

That's not even touching on the fact that "if you don't like it, just move" is a ridiculous statement with the common practice of rents being paid 1 to 2 years in advance. Or what about those with local spouses who have bought a property? Or a long term lease?

New mosques can pop out within a few months or sound systems can be changed/upgraded overnight, so a problem that wasn't there at the beginning could suddenly appear.

And last but not least: loud mosques is something a lot of locals (including Muslims) hate but don't speak up for fear of offending the community. So this is not an islamphobia or entitled expat problem, far from it. I mean, if even the VP is trying to rein it in every now and then, it obviously must be an inconvenience.

Personally, I am a light sleeper but the mosques in my area are far enough that they haven't bothered me in years. I adapted fairly quickly. However, I also don't have a mosque blasting right across the street, so I understand how it could be horrible.
 
El_Goretto said:
That's not even touching on the fact that "if you don't like it, just move" is a ridiculous statement with the common practice of rents being paid 1 to 2 years in advance. Or what about those with local spouses who have bought a property? Or a long term lease?
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It's not ridiculous to me. My health and sanity are more important to me than 1 or 2 years of rent or the penalty of breaking a long term lease. Maybe my priority's are wrong. I would not live somewhere that caused me stress to point that I was having health or mental issues. Things can change anywhere at anytime, not limited to Indonesia. Complaining about mosque loudspeakers in Indonesia is like moving to Spain and complaining the everyone speaks Spanish.
 
Hawk256 said:
It's not ridiculous to me. My health and sanity are more important to me than 1 or 2 years of rent or the penalty of breaking a long term lease.
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That's a fair point.

But not everyone has the luxury to do so. Glad it works for you though.

Hawk256 said:
Complaining about mosque loudspeakers in Indonesia is like moving to Spain and complaining the everyone speaks Spanish.
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I get the point you are trying to make but I have to disagree.
 
Hawk256 said:
I would not live somewhere that caused me stress to point that I was having health or mental issue
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Agreed. Main reason I left HKG after 8 years, even the money was very good.
Couldn't stand the feeling of living among racing rats anymore.

Hawk256 said:
Things can change anywhere at anytime, not limited to Indonesia
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Correct. One of the things I learnt during my many travel and living in other countries, specially "exotic" ones. Be always ready to bail out.
And do it fast when you decide to do it. Seen many "paradises" or "lovely places" turn to shit, and when it happens it usually goes fast.
 
El_Goretto said:
Well, there's no need for her to be driven crazy by something she can control. Plenty of places around the world that don't have loud speakers. /s
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Bali would be a good start, without going too far.

But a bit of due diligence is needed, as there are a few loudspeakers in some areas !
 
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