Earth Hour disappointment

I'm quite disappointed with this year's response to Earth Hour in my neighbourhood. When my family left for dinner earlier today, we had made it a point to switch off the lights so that if we had to return later than 8.30pm, we could return to a house in darkness.

Yes, our dinner function lasted longer than expected and we arrived back at Taman Jernih in Bukit Mertajam at about 9pm. The first inkling that Earth Hour was being ignored was that one of the bigger houses in my neighbourhood was completely switched on, including the garden lights.

I was further dismayed when I drove around the neighbourhood and observed an almost blatant disregard or ignorance for this global environmental event. Along the road where I live, only one other house was in darkness. The rest were lit by various degrees.

What could have gone wrong after last year's very encouraging response? Lack of awareness? Maybe, because I only saw a half-hearted involvement by both the federal government and the Penang state government, as well as the private sector. Overall, I believe there wasn't enough promotion or publicity of this event. And no political will to make it succeed in line with global efforts. So I would consider Earth Hour 2010 a failure, generally in Malaysia and specifically in my immediate neighbourhood.