Bigger, Louder but not necessarily Better.
My take on the Jeepney's Sound System.
Why is it that in the Philippines, people seem to be bent on trying to lose their sense of hearing?
Take for example town fiestas or their jeepney sound systems. They do not seem to care about the quality of the sound coming out of their gargantuan speakers as long as they are louder than everything else. Does the volume make the occasion much more enjoyable or the people who attend it happier? I don't know.
The Icon of Philippine Transport, the relic of World War II, the Jeepney. Every time, I ride one I seem to be out of breath and out of my mind, by the time I get the driver to stop the vehicle so I can alight. Do jeepney drivers do that on purpose? Why is it that they seem intent on having the passengers yell their lungs out, just so they will be able to tell the driver, that it's their stop?
Is it because they do not care about their passengers? Do they have ESP? Do they know better than us as to where, we ought to go? Why do they do this? Yesterday, I was coming home from Robinson's about lunchtime. The driver who at the start was so eager to let me ride his jeepney, and not the others that were there, seemed also decided, to keep me as a permanent passenger as he would not stop at all! What was he thinking? Did he intend to take me on an “Around the City Trip” for free? What about my lunch? was he treating me out? Why, we barely knew each other! I couldn’t believe it!
All this because he could not here me, yelling “Lugar lang!” which after a while became the chant, or rather the battlecry, of all the passengers. I am sure, many have experienced what I've been through. If I have not spent a long enough time in Bacolod, I sincerely would have thought, I was being abducted! ”Syndicate Kidnapper Jeepneys Strike Again! – Police baffled by paint job.” I could almost see the next day's headlines on the papers.
At times, when I have a companion on a jeepney ride, and unavoidably we'd be talking about various things - from where we were going, to how our day had gone - all of these through very loud music, blaring songs about “unrequited love” or commercials about a discount sale at a store that I cannot even go to, because I don't have the money – it’s just pure inanity! Conversations held on these jeepneys usually have to be spoken aloud, shouted over “Pinoy Ako...Pinoy Tayo...” which sounds like people having a heated argument!
If you’re unlucky you ride the jeepney on your own, then later the jeepney gets filled by students, who are just too excited to talk about, what they had just talked about in school, their crushes, their enemies, and that teacher who they think is so cute. Whether you like it or not, your mind is bombarded by images, of some student sitting in class, who keeps trying to catch the attention of their crush, although they don't want it to be obvious, that they're trying to. Then all of a sudden you are jarred back to reality, by their, shrieking, cooing and foot stumping on the jeepneys floor, which might just come off, at any minute. To put it simply, it's a bizarre mix of Teen TV paired with a thundering, ill-tuned “MYMP's Tell Me Where It Hurts” courtesy of the jeepney's lone wooden speaker directly beneath your seat.
You wanna know where it hurts? I’ll tell you where it hurts!
I have come to a couple of conclusions, as to why Filipino Jeepney drivers have such sound systems. First, they do not really know how loud the speakers are, because they are located in the back, under the passenger seats. And secondly, they think that if it’s loud enough, they will get the attention of the prospective passengers, and they'll ride their jeeps.
I recommend though that drivers be taught the proper way of having sound systems in their jeepneys, so that the riding public will not be having such a bad experience, taking public transportation. There are some passengers, who actually stay away from noisy jeeps. The drivers don’t know that they’re scaring away their customers.
To be continued…I’m almost at my stop ;-)
My take on the Jeepney's Sound System.
Why is it that in the Philippines, people seem to be bent on trying to lose their sense of hearing?
Take for example town fiestas or their jeepney sound systems. They do not seem to care about the quality of the sound coming out of their gargantuan speakers as long as they are louder than everything else. Does the volume make the occasion much more enjoyable or the people who attend it happier? I don't know.
The Icon of Philippine Transport, the relic of World War II, the Jeepney. Every time, I ride one I seem to be out of breath and out of my mind, by the time I get the driver to stop the vehicle so I can alight. Do jeepney drivers do that on purpose? Why is it that they seem intent on having the passengers yell their lungs out, just so they will be able to tell the driver, that it's their stop?
Is it because they do not care about their passengers? Do they have ESP? Do they know better than us as to where, we ought to go? Why do they do this? Yesterday, I was coming home from Robinson's about lunchtime. The driver who at the start was so eager to let me ride his jeepney, and not the others that were there, seemed also decided, to keep me as a permanent passenger as he would not stop at all! What was he thinking? Did he intend to take me on an “Around the City Trip” for free? What about my lunch? was he treating me out? Why, we barely knew each other! I couldn’t believe it!
All this because he could not here me, yelling “Lugar lang!” which after a while became the chant, or rather the battlecry, of all the passengers. I am sure, many have experienced what I've been through. If I have not spent a long enough time in Bacolod, I sincerely would have thought, I was being abducted! ”Syndicate Kidnapper Jeepneys Strike Again! – Police baffled by paint job.” I could almost see the next day's headlines on the papers.
At times, when I have a companion on a jeepney ride, and unavoidably we'd be talking about various things - from where we were going, to how our day had gone - all of these through very loud music, blaring songs about “unrequited love” or commercials about a discount sale at a store that I cannot even go to, because I don't have the money – it’s just pure inanity! Conversations held on these jeepneys usually have to be spoken aloud, shouted over “Pinoy Ako...Pinoy Tayo...” which sounds like people having a heated argument!
If you’re unlucky you ride the jeepney on your own, then later the jeepney gets filled by students, who are just too excited to talk about, what they had just talked about in school, their crushes, their enemies, and that teacher who they think is so cute. Whether you like it or not, your mind is bombarded by images, of some student sitting in class, who keeps trying to catch the attention of their crush, although they don't want it to be obvious, that they're trying to. Then all of a sudden you are jarred back to reality, by their, shrieking, cooing and foot stumping on the jeepneys floor, which might just come off, at any minute. To put it simply, it's a bizarre mix of Teen TV paired with a thundering, ill-tuned “MYMP's Tell Me Where It Hurts” courtesy of the jeepney's lone wooden speaker directly beneath your seat.
You wanna know where it hurts? I’ll tell you where it hurts!
I have come to a couple of conclusions, as to why Filipino Jeepney drivers have such sound systems. First, they do not really know how loud the speakers are, because they are located in the back, under the passenger seats. And secondly, they think that if it’s loud enough, they will get the attention of the prospective passengers, and they'll ride their jeeps.
I recommend though that drivers be taught the proper way of having sound systems in their jeepneys, so that the riding public will not be having such a bad experience, taking public transportation. There are some passengers, who actually stay away from noisy jeeps. The drivers don’t know that they’re scaring away their customers.
To be continued…I’m almost at my stop ;-)
posted by billytermite at
2:24 AM
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