Can we also ban other things at eateries?

I was with a friend the other day, yapping away around a cup of teh tarik when my friend excused herself for a cigarette.

Realising she was walking in a different direction when she could just have her puff across the street, I called out to her.

“Three metres. You just have to be three meters away,” I said.

My friend walked back to our table and whispered, “I know. But there are kids sitting at the next table and I’ve never smoked around young children even before the ruling came out. So I’m just going to take a quick walk a bit further away and have one cigarette.”

As my friend walked away, I turned to the next table – there were two children accompanied by their parents. All the four of them were busy using their gadgets - smartphones and iPads. Their eyes were glued to the screen.

A few minutes later, my friend walks back and warms up her seat. We then continued our conversation after ordering another round of teh tarik.

While we were indulging ourselves in the conversation, we were disturbed by this annoying sound coming from the next table. It was the theme song of the cartoon Upin & Ipin.

“Upin dan Ipin inilah dia,

Kembar seiras itu biasa,

Upin dan Ipin ragam aksinya,

Kami senangi siapa jua,

Upin dan Ipin selamanya.

Betul! Betul! Betul!”

I cringed.

The children at the next table were occupied with the cartoon show blasting on their gadgets while their parents ignored the loud noise creating a nuisance to many.

I exhaled and continued my conversation until I could not hear my friend anymore – the only thing we both could hear were the annoying shrieking voices of the characters in the cartoon show:

“Betul! Betul! Betul!”

I rolled my eyes so hard I almost saw my brain.

Knowing very well that I was getting super irritated, my friend then walks over to the next table and politely requests the parents to turn down the volume, explaining to them that we were having a conversation and the cartoon sound was disturbing.

Both parents turned to look at me before apologising the Malaysian way – by raising one hand and nodding at the same time.

“There, problem solved!” said my friend in her usual chirpy mood when she returned to our table.

Behavioural stress

Unfortunately, the problem wasn’t really solved. Not too long after, another customer walked into the restaurant, ordered something and blasted his smartphone speakers with some Tamil motivational talk.

With the loud Tamil motivational talk filling in the air, the children occupying the next table naturally increased the volume of their cartoon.

So there we were, my friend and I, sitting in a smoke-free restaurant, feeling so irritated for not being able to have a decent conversation with each other, thanks to ignorant, disrespectful Malaysians.

And I wonder, if the government can ban smoking in eateries to protect the public from becoming second-hand smokers, perhaps they should also ban people from playing loud music and videos because technically, unpleasant noise can also be detrimental to health.

It leads to emotional and behavioural stress and can increase the chances of headaches, migraines and high blood pressure.

Also, just like smoking cigarettes causes a nuisance to others, so is playing loud, annoying music and videos on your gadgets.

Quite frankly, blasting music in eateries and public places should also be made a criminal offence – trust me, there is nothing that can cause more nuisance than a stupid cartoon theme playing repetitively when you are having a serious conversation with a dear friend.

Urgh...

While I have great respect for people like my friend who never smokes around children, pregnant mothers and the elderly even before the smoking ban came about, I have absolutely no respect for those who can’t be bothered about causing a nuisance to others as long as they and their children are kept entertained.

I do not smoke. But I think if the government can make smoking in public places a criminal offence because it causes a nuisance to others and to protect the rights of non-smokers who deserve cleaner and fresher air – I think we ought to ban many other things as well.

Perhaps we could begin by forcing people who wish to turn up the volume of their music and videos in eateries to do so at least three metres away.

After all, if anti-smoking supporters think smoking is a filthy habit and hate smelling like an ashtray when they leave eateries and public places, I don’t think why any of us should be expected to sit in a public place and absorb the noise pollution caused by some disrespectful, self-absorbed Malaysians.

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FA ABDUL is a passionate storyteller, a growing media trainer, an aspiring playwright, a regular director, a struggling producer, a self-acclaimed photographer, an expert Facebooker, a lazy blogger, a part-time queen and a full-time vainpot. - Mkini