Scream Silently

Fuji-Q Highland amusement park has the world's steepest roller coaster "Takabisha" with a free falling angle of 121 degrees. Image credit: Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images

I wonder if you can have fun if you’re not allowed to scream when riding on a roller coaster. 

I mean, that’s the thrill of a roller coaster ride, right? The screams that accompany it are what makes the whole unnerving experience exhilarating and enjoyable. 

But Japan’s amusement park, Fuji-Q Highland had stipulated on June 17, 2020 that visitors who will be riding roller coasters at the attraction will need to be composed and stay quiet when on the ride. 

The policy comes in the wake of Covid-19 and is meant to ensure public health and safety. The bizarre precaution is put in place so that virus droplets don’t come flying out of mouths travelling at 80 mph. 

I can appreciate it but I don’t know how it’ll be implemented – still that’s the protocol, scream or no scream. 

In a unique video announcement, which now has more than 519,161 views on YouTube, two high-ranked executives at the park are seen giving a demonstration of how patrons can keep a poker face together with a steely disposition while “screaming inside their hearts”, according to a message at the end of the said video:

Again, I wonder. What if my heart is in my throat when it screams? 

I’ve just completed another nine WSD 2021 posters and I’m pretty sure there will be more that I'll be creating. 

And yes, I am ready to launch my “marcomm” for next year's World Speech Day which is already scheduled for this coming Wednesday.