So what is that rummaging about a rooster, who is driven by instinct and lack of intellectual capacity, when humans themselves, fully capable of controlling their actions and understanding their impact, wilfully destroy their own kin’s night’s sleep?
It is 12. November, 04:15 a.m. in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, and I have been the witness of a 25 minute loudspeaker reinforced chanting session which could not be absorbed by my earplugs and was certain to wake up the entire town. In other countries, such behaviour would be subject to criminal prosecution (and rightfully so), but here it seems to be the expression of a religiousness which is gladly welcomed by the general population. Or so I must assume.
Although I didn’t recognize the kind of song straight away, it was the muezzin. It sounded strangely different from my memory of such chanting. Anyways I can now be sure to wake up every night at 4 a.m. and wait for the show to be over.
What I find a bit strange is that, according to wikipedia, in this region (flores and west timor) there are only 5% muslim, 93% are supposedly christian. Weird that the minority is allowed to chant across the uninterested majority. Anyways…