Amateur singers in Taipei now need to beware as the city announced a ban on karaoke and using noisy household tools late at night.
In order to ensure peaceful nights, the Taipei City Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB) announced a ban on household karaoke, use of noisy electric household tools and loudspeakers at outdoor events between 11pm and 6am, EPB officials said in a press release.
The news release also stated that violators will be subject to fines between NT$3,000 to NT$30,000.
Many residents of Taipei welcomed the new ban.
"I'm a victim [of late night karaoke] myself," Liu Hsiang-hsin (
"People who live above my place sing karaoke everyday," Liu continued. "It always gets very noisy in my room and sometimes I want to escape from my home."
Liu said that she would prefer an even stricter rule: "11pm is already very late, I think singing [karaoke] should be prohibited after 9pm."
Another victim of late night karaoke noise pollution, Chen Chi-cheng (陳志成), also welcomed the ban, but was skeptical about its execution in practice.
"I support the ban, but I hope they [the city government] will really execute it, because I think it'll be difficult in practice." Chen said.
"In any case, I'll keep reporting my neighbor until I see solid improvement," he added.
Some, on the other hand, believe that a ban cannot solve everything.
A native of Taichung who has lived in Taipei for some years, an office worker surnamed Chang, believed mutual respect is the ultimate solution.
"People in Taipei should learn to respect each other. That's more important than the law," Chang said.
The ban took effect yesterday. However, outdoor activities on particular holidays will be exceptions to the ban, according to the EPB.
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