Metro escalator, Taipei train station, 12pm

Because of the recent escalator accident, Taipei metro starts to hire many staffs to remind passengers the awareness of safety. Standing at the end of escalators, they repeat: 'Grab the arm firmly, stand along the right-hand side, be careful when stepping in and out of the escalators...'. These staffs use amplified speaker cones to chant the reminders all day long. This is a new sound in Taipei. How long will the sound last? This new strategy of Taipei metro is rather political. I believe that the company is scared of be blamed by the public and politicians. Comparing to the escalators in London tube, Taipei metro has provided very excellent safety for the passengers!

Perhaps we should also consider a suggestion given by a reader of the Liberty Times. He believes that the accident was caused by the fancy but highly distracted audio-visual advertisements installed around the escalators.

New sounds keep generating. Reasons of generation are varied. The sounds out of politics sometimes really irritate me.