Indonesia's Sound Horeg Debate Pits Street Celebration Against Health and Public Order

Powerful Speakers Bring Celebration and Conflict to Java

In Greater Malang, around 1,200 operators reportedly work in sound horeg, the booming street entertainment business now at the centre of an Indonesian debate over celebration, health and public order. About 500 of those operators employ thousands of people. Renting a sound system can cost between two million and 100 million rupiah, while some operators can earn as much as 500 million rupiah during August, the month of Indonesia's Independence Day celebrations.

The same equipment that draws crowds can shake windows, rattle walls and, in some cases, damage property. In July 2025, the East Java branch of the Indonesian Ulema Council, known as MUI, issued a fatwa declaring sound horeg forbidden for Muslims under certain conditions. In early August, a woman in Lumajang Regency reportedly collapsed and died after complaining of dizziness while watching a show. The cause of her death was not specified.

As of August 9, the controversy reaches beyond a disagreement about musical taste. Residents want relief from overwhelming noise, operators have businesses and workers to support, and authorities face pressure to establish rules that protect public welfare while allowing celebrations to continue.

Sound horeg takes its name from a Javanese word meaning "vibrate". Towering stacks of speakers travel on trucks or boats, carrying music through neighbourhoods during weddings, carnivals, religious celebrations and political rallies. Particularly popular in East and Central Java, the phenomenon turns an ordinary street into a moving performance space. For supporters, it creates excitement and a sense of belonging. For neighbours unable to escape the sound, the same event can mean hours of disturbance.

How Sound Horeg Became a Street Spectacle

Trucks and other large vehicles carry sound systems built to order, with powerful amplifiers, subwoofers and colourful lighting. Amplifiers increase the strength of the audio signal, while subwoofers produce the low bass that listeners can feel as vibration. The physical force of that bass is central to the sound horeg experience.

Electronic dance music, dangdut koplo and remixes accompany the processions. Young people and onlookers gather around the vehicles, turning the route itself into part of the celebration. The attraction combines music, movement, lights and the shared experience of being in a crowd.

The roots of sound horeg reach back to East Java in the 1970s, when interest in Western rock and pop music increased demand for quality sound systems. Over time, the equipment became a fixture at family gatherings and carnivals sponsored by government bodies. Its popularity surged after the COVID-19 pandemic, as communities sought ways to celebrate outdoors.

The main stages of its development and the current dispute are:

• 1970s: Interest in Western rock and pop music helps build demand for sound systems in East Java.
• After the COVID-19 pandemic: Outdoor celebrations help sound horeg grow rapidly in popularity.
• July 2025: East Java MUI issues a conditional fatwa following complaints about noise, public disturbance and conduct at events.
• Early August 2025: A woman reportedly collapses and dies after feeling dizzy at a sound horeg show in Lumajang Regency.
• August 9, 2025: Debate continues over regulation, enforcement and a proposal to recognise the equipment through intellectual property rights.

A Source of Identity and Income

For many young people and working people, belonging to a sound horeg group is a source of pride. The gatherings offer a grassroots form of entertainment in places where affordable alternatives are limited. They also give communities a way to use public space for their own celebrations.

Operators compete in "battle sound" events, seeking to present the loudest and most impressive audio systems. Winning can bring recognition and more customers. The competition connects technical skill and public spectacle with a commercial reward: a reputation built at one event can help secure bookings for the next.

Greater Malang's reported 1,200 operators show the scale of the business, with 500 employing thousands of people. Rental prices range from two million to 100 million rupiah, described as about US$121 to US$9,400. The regional minimum wage is just over two million rupiah a month. Even a booking near the bottom of that range therefore costs close to a month's minimum pay, while the most expensive systems are far beyond what an individual worker could readily afford.

August is an especially valuable period because of Independence Day parades and related festivities. Some operators can earn up to 500 million rupiah, or more than US$30,000, in that single month. Those earnings help explain why restrictions affect more than the people dancing beside the speakers: they also matter to the businesses and workers whose livelihoods depend on events.

When the Music Reaches Inside Homes

Residents across Java have complained about noise, damage to property and disruption to everyday life. Sound horeg systems often exceed 100 decibels, a level described as comparable to a jet taking off. Decibels measure sound level; the duration of exposure also matters when considering the risk to hearing.

The health concerns centre on exposure above the cited 85-decibel safety threshold. Prolonged exposure to excessive noise can cause permanent hearing loss, disturbed sleep, increased stress and cardiovascular problems. Children and older people are among those considered especially vulnerable.

For a person attending voluntarily, the bass may be part of the attraction. For an infant, an older resident or a labourer trying to rest at home, the sound arrives without an invitation. A procession can therefore affect people well beyond the crowd gathered around its speakers. The practical dispute is about how far one group's celebration should reach into another person's daily life.

Physical safety has also become part of the controversy. Alongside the reported death in Lumajang Regency, a teenager and a child aged nine were injured when a sound system fell on them during a parade. Videos circulating on social media show trucks tearing down gates, bridge railings and road signs to make room for large equipment. Such incidents have added to public anger about the way some events occupy streets.

What the Religious Ruling Covers

East Java MUI, the provincial branch of Indonesia's top Islamic clerical body, issued its July fatwa after mounting complaints from residents and Islamic boarding schools. Their objections included excessive noise and public disturbance, alongside inappropriate dancing, alcohol consumption and children's exposure to shows considered uneducative.

A fatwa is a religious ruling. In this case, the ruling declares sound horeg haram, meaning forbidden for Muslims, under specified conditions. It targets mobile events involving violations of sharia, or Islamic religious rules, or disruption to community peace. Sound systems remain permissible for official or religious events when used at reasonable volumes.

Central MUI clarified that it had not issued a national fatwa. The ruling came from a forum at an Islamic boarding school in Pasuruan, East Java. Its geographical and institutional origins matter because the controversy has spread nationally, bringing questions about religious norms, freedom of expression and community welfare into the same debate.

KH Miftahul Huda, secretary of the MUI Fatwa Commission, explained why a religious ruling alone could not address damage and public disorder:

When such activities cause environmental damage and disrupt public order, they fall under the responsibility of security forces like the police or Satpol PP, and cannot be resolved by a fatwa alone, as fatwas are not legally binding.

His statement places responsibility for enforcement with public authorities. The fatwa provides religious guidance, while action over damaged property, disturbed streets and public order depends on the police and Satpol PP, the local public order authorities.

Local Rules Face an Enforcement Test

MUI has urged the government to issue clear regulations controlling sound horeg. Local authorities have formed task forces and met operators, producing agreements to limit volume and obtain consent from affected residents. These measures address two recurring complaints: how loud an event becomes and whether the people along its route have agreed to it.

Malang and Blitar are among the places where local bans on loudspeakers in public streets have been enacted. Enforcement remains inconsistent. Limited police resources make supervision difficult, while penalties for violations are generally small fines or a few days in jail.

Operators, residents and officials consequently face a gap between an agreement and what happens during a procession. A volume limit requires someone to check the sound. A consent requirement requires attention to the people who will hear it from their homes, rather than just those organising or attending the event. The existing local responses show that regulation has begun, but its application remains a central problem.

Recognition for Innovation, or Approval of Disruption?

The Ministry of Law and Human Rights in East Java has proposed granting intellectual property rights, or IPR, to the sound system as recognition of local creativity and innovation. Intellectual property rights concern protection for creative work or inventions. The proposal has opened another front in a dispute already involving public order and religious guidance.

Supporters argue that recognition could bring the activity into a clearer regulatory framework while acknowledging the work behind the equipment. Critics worry that official recognition could legitimise a practice associated with noise pollution and social friction.

A poll conducted by Surabaya radio station Suara Surabaya found that 63 percent of respondents opposed the proposal, citing unresolved noise and public order problems. The result places those concerns directly alongside the argument for recognising technical creativity.

Some artists and cultural critics argue that traditional arts such as reog and jaranan are more deserving of recognition and protection. They describe sound horeg as disruptive and "anti-cultural". Supporters, by contrast, see a locally developed form of collective expression. The disagreement concerns what deserves cultural recognition as well as how performances should behave in shared spaces.

Who Gets to Control the Village Sound?

Defenders call sound horeg the "voice of the people", presenting it as grassroots empowerment in a society where access to public space is often restricted. Joining a group, organising a parade or sharing a celebration can offer a visible and audible expression of community identity.

The rental prices complicate that picture. With a full setup costing as much as 100 million rupiah, ordinary villagers may be unable to pay for the spectacle themselves. Local elites, including landlords, businesspeople and village officials, can become its patrons and use it to display wealth and influence.

Critics argue that, in those circumstances, sound becomes a way to assert power. Residents may face social backlash or intimidation when they object, particularly if influential people support the operators. In a recent incident, a father asking parade participants to quieten down for his sick child was assaulted.

The phrase "acoustic hierarchy" describes this imbalance: people with money or influence control the sound around them, while those with fewer resources have less ability to object. For elderly residents, infants and labourers needing rest, the issue becomes a question of whose needs count when a neighbourhood is turned into a performance space.

Making Room for Celebration and Rest

Proposals for compromise focus on rules developed with the people affected by them. Community leaders and academics have called for technical training for operators, reasonable curfews, limits on sound levels and incentives for compliance. An outright ban is viewed as neither feasible nor fair given the activity's social and economic importance.

Some communities are experimenting with restricted parade hours, routes that avoid residential areas and civic education about mutual respect. These approaches address different parts of the problem: timing affects sleep, routes determine which homes are exposed, and operating practices affect the intensity of the sound.

An academic analysis framed the purpose of compromise as including residents who cannot afford to command public attention:

This is not about silencing communities. It is about reimagining celebration in a way that includes everyone—not just those who can afford to be heard.

Dialogue among religious leaders, business operators, health specialists and residents is another proposed step, alongside greater public awareness of the health risks of excessive noise. Such discussions would bring together people whose interests overlap but whose experiences of the same event can be very different.

Indonesia's national ideology, Pancasila, also features in calls for a balanced response. Its principles of just and civilised humanity, unity and social justice offer a basis for considering cultural expression together with responsibility towards neighbours. The practical aim is to preserve lively celebrations while protecting the people who live around them.

Key Points

• Sound horeg uses powerful speakers on trucks or boats for weddings, carnivals, religious celebrations, Independence Day parades and political events.
• Greater Malang reportedly has 1,200 operators, with 500 employing thousands of people. Rentals range from two million to 100 million rupiah.
• Complaints include excessive noise, health risks, damage to property, injuries and intimidation of residents who object.
• East Java MUI's July 2025 fatwa forbids sound horeg under certain conditions while allowing reasonable use at official or religious events. Central MUI has issued no national fatwa.
• Local restrictions and agreements exist, but limited enforcement resources and modest penalties complicate their application.
• A proposal for intellectual property recognition has divided supporters of local innovation and critics concerned about disruption.
• Suggested compromises include sound limits, curfews, safer routes, operator training, residents' consent and dialogue.