Buzzing Bees During World Cup Match

i didn't catch every single world cup match, or even watched any one match from start to end - but even i noticed a very peculiarly annoying sound reverberating throughout the stadium. it sounded like millions of bees buzzing. giant bees buzzing.

you'd be in another dimension not to noticed it.

vuvuzela in action

yes, it's actually a musical instrument. a kind of trumpet. or a foghorn. native to south africa which adds to the african environment. and it's called the vuvuzela.

the vuvuzela is just a meter long, comes in many colors and makes a sound like a trumpeting elephant. together, they make 'beautifully' irritating noise across the stadium - a symbol of the exciting sport to south africans.

how an earth can something that looks so plain, emits such an incredibly LOUD sound? check this blogpost on the decibles and stuff.

a site i read stated that spectators use the vuvuzela

• to encourage their teams
• to express their joy (or disappointment) or
• just to show their excitement

hello? that's like ALL the time lah! bola masuk gol pun bunyi. bola lepas pun bunyi. bola masuk gol lawan pun bunyi. tengah-tengah sepak bola pun bunyi. nak kasi semangat masa half time pun bunyi. so when will the vuvuzela NOT used during a game?

no wonder the sound of the buzzing bees seemed never ending. it really did not end until the game ends!

and worse, if it really is a 'south-african' thing, must ALL fans regardless of country use it? if there's a match in malaysia, and we use kompang to cheer our team, must the other country's supporters ALSO bang kompangs?

there's even talks on banning the vuvuzela altogether, but is this possible? what's a sporting event without a noise-maker? (unless you're watching golf where everyone keeps quiet until the ball is hit).

i think watching sports itself is all about making noise. if you don't have any noise-making instrument, you'd be using your voice. be it at the stadium or at home, or even at the mamak corner with the big projector screen - i bet it's not complete without a shout or two for your favorite team, and a few profanities thrown in for the opposing team!

besides, that darn vuvuzela has already found its way to dubai. the other day we actually heard it loud, and ever so annoying - at ibn battuta mall.

yeap. INSIDE a mall.

so, if you think hearing it from your tv set is annoying enough, imagine having to hear it in a closed mall! vuvuzela is here to stay, and i bet it's gonna spread to malaysia too!