Yesterday morning, it started already at 7 am and stopped around noon. Usually, it happens twice daily, 11 am and 5 pm, 1 hour each. It must be a special day. We're talking about the Vietnamese government's loudspeaker announcements. We have a permanently installed loudspeaker two buildings away, so it's pretty loud.
There is hardly any information about it on the web. I only found an old English article in "Vietnam News". The loudspeaker system was invented during the Vietnam War in 1960 to warn the inhabitants of air raids and to broadcast victories on battlefields.
After the war, there was much discussions about abolishing the loudspeakers again. Then came COVID and it was probably the most effective means of disseminating information, guidelines and behaviors that changed frequently. Many of the older population had neither cell phones nor are online so they still were able to receive information.
But why are they still used today? What do they tell us? There is a lot of talking and singing. I asked the housekeeper. She replied somewhat reservedly (and she's not usually so reserved) that they talk about what activities there are in the city. And that twice a day? People hardly ever talk about politics here, especially with strangers.
We realize once again that we are in a communist country. In everyday life, you don't even notice it.
Very Interesting. In the South Indian city that I come from, there are loud speakers especially during festivals or celebrations like wedding and all day long either devotional songs or cinema music is played very loudly. It is organised by the private party that is celebrating and not by the govt. Recent days the district administration has strictly enforced some rules to control the use of loud speakers as it is such a nuisance for children and educational institutions.