Write-in to Straits Times Forum : Need to ensure safe noise levels at concerts and for issuance of earplugs to protect hearing health of concert-goers

My letter to straits times forum to petition the relevant authorities to take measures to ensure safety of concert noise level to concert goers:

I sustained tinnitus and auditory processing disorder after attending a Sundown Festival concert in 2010. These illnesses have severely afflicted the quality of my life, such that I am afflicted by a constant ringing sound in my ear, and I find it hard to function in social situations because  of the difficulty in making out conversation sounds from background sounds in the environment. There is no cure or aid for these conditions. Hearing aids do not provide any relief.  It is the purpose of my letter to raise awareness of these conditions that may come about from loud noise exposure in loud concert, and to implore the relevant authorities to take action to ensure safety of concert-goers.

I attended the Sundown Festival Concert about 2 years ago. I was 20 years old then, and it was the first concert I was attending in my life after receiving complimentary tickets. There were about a few hundred people at the concert, and the holding area for the concert-goers was situated right in front of the stage. I was standing around 10m – 20m from the stage.

The music was being played at an extremely loud level on the audio system, such that one could feel a reverberation through one’s ears and body at the concert.

I came home that day with a ringing sound in my ear that perpetuated through the night and found it hard to sleep. I thought that the ringing sound would eventually subside, but until today, I still do experience ringing sounds in my ear in relatively quiet environment when I had not experienced so before the concert. This condition has robbed me of some of the pleasures of solitude and quietude in life. 

In addition to Tinnitus, I also suffer from a hearing impairment that makes it difficult for me to make out the meaning of conversation when there are background noises. Speech sounds appear muffled whenever there are normal background environmental sounds. This condition is known as auditory processing disorder in the medical community and it can be induced by loud-noise exposure. A less well-known name ascribed to this condition is “cocktail party syndrome” in reference to the difficulty that the person suffering from the condition has in functioning in a social situation such as a cocktail party because of his difficulty in making out speech sounds from background noise. Hearing aids do not help to resolve this problem as it only amplifies sound to the wearer and do not help the wearer to distinguish conversation sounds from background noise. I have developed a phobia somewhat of social situations in my life because of this difficulty which does not have a cure or any aid.  

It is my heartfelt imploration that the relevant authorities take step to ensure safety of concert volumes at concert to concert-goers, and to necessitate concert organizers to give out earplugs to concert-goers in loud concert so as to allow concert-goers to protect their hearing health. Concert goers are not knowledgeable about the risk that loud sounds from concerts may have on their hearing. Personally, it was my first time to the concert, and I had no warning whatsoever of this personal suffering that I have been facing ever since. I have come across health advice showing the maximum safe duration of exposure to the different levels of noise exposure by decibel(dB). The sound levels of rock/pop concert can range along the level of 130dB – 140dB, and the recommended maximum time exposure to such sounds is listed as being less than 1 seconds. It seems incongruous to these public health findings that there are no policies regulating safe limits for concert volumes. I have read that in Europe, earplugs are dispensed to concert-goers for loud concerts. I believe we should have regulations in place necessitating such protective measures to concert goers in Singapore here as well.

I have read of accounts of individuals who sank into depression from tinnitus, and some who have even been so tormented by the ringing sound that they committed suicide. There are probably many other fellow Singaporeans like me who have incurred tinnitus, hearing loss, or other forms of hearing impairments from going to one of such concert, and who have to live out the rest of their lives with these hearing difficulties. I would like to raise awareness of these unspoken sufferings in society, and implore for measures to be set in place to protect the well-being of concert-goers.

[Afterthought - Reads too much like a personal sob story. I would need to make it more like a public awareness raising message.]