Quick first world problem rant here, so bear with me
Flew MH727 from KUL to CGK a few nights ago. It being a flight departing 22:15 and arriving 23:15, one would reasonably expect most passengers to sleep. Being the lucky people we were, we ended up on 9M-MLK the supposedly 8 year old 737 with a curiously dated cabin, and broken seats (and broken leg rests in J). As with much of the ML* fleet, there isn't any IFE installed. On boarding crew played some Malaysian pop-esque music (usual on 737s), though this one had some more nationalistic lyrics than I'm used to in the past. After boarding, the safety video was played, when the crew decided it was a good idea to turn up the volume by around 50% making sure that no one couldn't possibly block out the sound from their ears.
Now what bothered me is that they played the music again 30 minutes before landing during the descent. I proceeded to sleep after the taxi only to be waken by the same 3-song music played at the same loud volume. I felt like I was in a dire, patriotic nightclub, given the loud music and dimmed lights. Needless to say, many others who also slept were also awaken, confused. The words "CINTA MALAYSIA, CINTA MALAYSIA" got stuck in my head until the next day.
rant done
Now reasonably speaking, I'm quite used to music played on landing, but not at this volume. How is this even allowed?? I'd like to say that I travel with MH relatively often, flying 20 flights each year at the very very least, but never have I been so annoyed. Usually the Malaysian acoustic soundtrack played is played at a low volume, giving a homely, cozy, hometown feeling, but this one did not have the same effect. And I don't recall music usually being played during the descent on MH (unlike on CX). Now, I love MH and Malaysia in general, but this flight was pretty awful.