A darker hour

Did I say wet morning? Well, it was a wet afternoon and a wet night too. The rain's stopped in Bukit Mertajam just a short while ago so I had no chance to go outside the house to see what the neighbourhood was up to during this year's Earth Hour.

But from my window, I did see an unusually dimmer road. Except for the porch lights, many of the houses were in darkness. Even for my neighbour two doors down the road, where a karaoke session had started at 7.30pm, the noise had died down by 8.30pm.

So I would say, yes, Earth Hour was probably better observed here this year than last year.

Earth Hour, Penang 2011

Yesterday while out on Penang island, I received a timely reminder from my mobile service provider on this year's Earth Hour event which is just two days away! For the past two years, I have been writing about Earth Hour on this blog and I know that I have been late in doing it for this year. Hope to make up with it with this post.

So this Saturday, 26 Mar 2011, I'll be asking my family to switch off the lights in the house again for one hour from 8.30pm. We'll be plunging the house into total darkness, save for the light we always maintain above our house altar. Even then, we have always been using "green" bulbs that do not consume much energy at all.

But Earth Hour is not only about saving electricity. In the bigger picture, it is about going green, conserving all our energy resources and saving the environment from global warming. I know that whatever we do this Saturday evening can only be symbolic but every little way we can play to contribute towards this event and make more people shed off their apathy will go to show our seriousness to make the world a better place for ourselves.

Unfortunately, we shall still be voices in the wilderness if the main perpetrators of environment rape do not heed our actions. The biggest culprits among them are the governments of the world. For example, we hear so much about illegal logging and illegal wildlife trading; all these are controllable and yet, they are not. By not doing anything or doing too little, it is a clear sign of a passive approval of such illegal activities. These activities must stop and I would urge my federal government to stop them as long as they are within their control.

I don't know about the other states but I do know that there is an on-going green campaign in my state Penang. For instance, since the beginning of this year, every day is a "no plastic" day. You'll be hard put to find supermarkets and most outlets in shopping malls willing to provide you with plastic bags now. Yesterday when I was at a bookshop at the Gurney Plaza, all that the counter staff did was to encircle a strip of paper around my purchase to signify its "sold" status.

Incidentally, the Gurney Plaza is one of the many shopping outlets in Penang that is actively promoting Earth Hour. After knowing that they were already doing their part last year, I wasn't surprised to see this big banner hanging from the mall's centre court. Unless anyone is blind or oblivious to their surrounding, this banner cannot be missed.

And just a final word about Earth Hour in Penang. If you happen to be around the Esplanade field near the waterfront this Saturday evening, please drop by the Penang state's symbolic Earth Hour event at 8.30am. Lights will be turned off at the Esplanade as well as at many iconic government buildings statewide (Komtar, City Hall, Town Hall, etc) and candles will be distributed to all participants.

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.

An Earth Hour reminder

Earth Hour 2010 is just two weeks away. I hope you will remember Earth Hour and join me in switching off the lights in your office and your homes at 8.30pm on 27 Mar 2010. Let's show the world that we care for the resources that the Good Earth has bestowed on us. Here's my earlier post on Earth Hour 2010.

Incidentally, I had noticed a few days ago that the Gurney Plaza will be participating in Earth Hour by switching off the lights in their complex on that day. Presumably it will mean that all the establishments and outlets will be switching off too.

However, Gurney Plaza will be going one step further. Not only will they be switching off for one hour, they will switch off for 10 hours from 8.30pm until 6.30am on 28 Mar 2010. Will others follow suit too?

Earth Hour 2010

Mark down 27 Mar 2010 on your calendar.
That's when Earth Hour 2010 will take place.

I took part in Earth Hour 2009;
I will take part in Earth Hour 2010.
Please join me...

On Earth Hour 2010, hundreds of millions of people, organisations, corporations and governments will come together to make a bold statement about their concern for climate change by doing something quite simple: turning off their lights for one hour. Earth Hour symbolizes that by working together, each of us can have a positive impact in the fight against climate change, protecting our future and that of future generations.

Participation is easy. By flipping off your light switch on 27 Mar 2010 at 8.30pm local time you will be casting your vote for action on climate change. On this date and time, Earth Hour will cascade around the globe, moving from one time zone to another, uniting the planet under a single, simple, call to action. So, set your clock!

Since its inception three years ago, Earth Hour’s non-partisan approach has captured the world’s imagination and became a global phenomenon.

Nearly one billion people turned out for Earth Hour 2009 – involving 4,100 cities in 87 countries on seven continents.

Will your city, town or village join in this year for Earth Hour 2010?

Last year, iconic landmarks from around the world that went dark for Earth Hour included:

• Empire State Building
• Brooklyn Bridge
• Las Vegas Strip
• United Nations Headquarters
• Golden Gate Bridge
• Seattle’s Space Needle
• Great Pyramids of Giza
• Acropolis and Parthenon in Athens
• Christ the Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro
• St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City
• Big Ben and Houses of Parliament in London
• Elysee Palace and Eiffel Tower in Paris
• Beijing’s Birds Nest and Water Cube
• Symphony of Lights in Hong Kong
• Sydney’s Opera House

(The above story is modified from the original write-up on the Earth Hour 2010 website.

Earth hour started early in Balik Pulau

Photo from blog.balikpulau.org

Most Malaysians might have had a personal choice to observe Earth Hour by turning off the lights at 8.30pm last night but for the people in Balik Pulau on the other side of Penang island, Earth Hour came early and it was enforced on all the residents there.

Mother Nature came to make sure that the residents of Balik Pulau would participate in this global event to turn off the lights in support against climate change and global warming. A late afternoon bout of thunder and lightning followed by heavy rainfall had knocked off the power supply to the town at about 7.15pm. Power was not restored until 9.25pm. Read the story here in the writer's own words.

Earth hour self-portrait

(This post is written in two parts: one as a tongue-in-cheek humour and the other in all seriousness)

Note: I'm writing this in the dark with my monitor switched off. Are you taking part in Earth Hour? Shame on you if you are reading this before 9.30pm.

Here is a picture of me and my wife at home on the sofa, in front of the television set, me wearing my favourite collarless T-shirt and my wife in her house coat, taken not more than five minutes ago and uploaded to this blog. You can just make out my aunt's knee intruding into the picture at the lower left corner, where my name is. Told her to remove her knee from the camera's view but she purposely poked it out in front of her just as the camera's timer went off. Spoil sport.

So that's how my family observed Earth Hour today on 28 Mar 2009 at 8.30pm. How are you enjoying yours? Note: You can click on the picture to view a higher resolution. (My experience with Earth Hour continues below the picture.)

UPDATE at 9.35pm: But seriously, I am proud to say that there were households in my neighbourhood, Taman Jernih in Bukit Mertajam, that were aware of this campaign and had switched off most of their lights.

The street where I live. Lights off in my porch and the two houses across from me. This picture was taken with my Konica Minolta Dimage Z5 set at ISO 100, one-second shutter speed and an f-stop of 2.8

It's been raining quite consistently since this afternoon but minutes ago, I returned from a drive around my neighbourhood and noticed many houses with dimmed lights. Rough estimate? Maybe about 50 percent of households. Many of these houses were like mine, with the porch lights extinguished and unecessary lights turned off. I've seen houses - with cars parked fully in their compounds, meaning there were people at home - that were in complete darkness. My son had gone to his friend's birthday party in the housing estate across the road. I passed by the house and it was totally in the dark too. Also, I noticed that the St Anne's Church was in darkness. I tried visiting some websites and was pleasantly greeted by this message that popped up on TheStar Online. So yes, people are playing their parts to make a statement that we have had enough of global warming and we need tough action on carbon emissions and climate change. It starts with us.