Tuesday March 17, 2009

Lights out

By HILARY CHIEW

Next Saturday, turn off your lights for an hour.

WILL the Petronas Twin Towers join other world-famous monuments in switching off their lights for one hour at 8.30pm on March 28?

At the moment, it seems pretty unlikely, but that hasn’t stopped Malaysians from voting for the Twin Towers and nine other prominent local landmarks to be part of the symbolic switch-off to mark Earth Hour, the World Wide Fund for Nature-initiated climate change awareness programme.

WWF Malaysia is inviting the public to vote on its website (www.earthhour.org.my) for buildings they would like to see go dark during the one-hour worldwide event. It has listed 10 public and private buildings, including the Johor Sultan’s palace Istana Bukit Serene.

So far, KL Tower has thrown its support behind the global movement that started in 2007 when 2.2 million homes and businesses in Sydney switched off their lights for one hour. The action went on to became a symbolic public expression of concern over a warming planet.

Last year, the message went global, with 50 million people across the world switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Colosseum in Rome and the Sydney Opera House all stood in darkness.

“Menara Kuala Lumpur, under its Tower of Hope programme, is committed to raising awareness on climate change and being the first monument in Malaysia to participate in this cause, and we would like to call upon other buildings in this country to do the same,” said Menara Kuala Lumpur chief executive officer Datuk Zulkifli Mohamad.

KL after dark: It’s all bright lights, after sundown in Kuala Lumpur but for one hour next Saturday, the KL Tower (left) will switch off its lights as part of a global movement to express concern over a warming planet.

WWF-M is hopeful that the Petronas Twin Towers would eventually join in. “Other iconic landmarks around the world such as the Taipei 101 tower in Taiwan and Dubai’s Burj Al Arab have already pledged their support for this cause,” said WWF-M executive director Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma.

Other buildings under the administration of KL City Hall like the majestic Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad and the National Monument are expected to join the growing league of prominent landmarks around the world that will switch off on March 28 this year.

The Federal Territories Ministry has also agreed to involve all its three territories – Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya – in support of the campaign. Government administration buildings are expected to switch off non-essential lights and office appliances during that hour. And it helps that March 28 is a Saturday.

WWF-M Earth Hour co-ordinator Abinesh Raj said the activities focused on raising awareness on climate change and not on actual emission reduction, hence, the buildings were selected for their prominence and visual impact rather than their emission levels. “Hopefully in years to come when the awareness is higher, we can get into the details,” he added.

Officially joining the global event this year, Kuala Lumpur is among 930 cities in 80 countries across 25 time zones that will turn off as many electric switches as possible at 8.30pm local time. Close to 80 businesses and civil organisations have signed up in support of the global event.

This year, Earth Hour is aiming for one billion supporters. The challenge will begin at precisely 8.30pm on March 28 when the diesel generators on the Chatham Islands, a small archipelago off the east coast of New Zealand, is switched off.

The global wave of participation is expected to gather momentum throughout Asia Pacific with major cities such as Sydney, Seoul, Beijing, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta, Delhi and Mumbai dimming the lights.

WWF-M also aims to collect five million signatures to add to the pledges from the rest of the world that will be submitted to world leaders at the year-end climate change summit in Copenhagen where 192 countries will decide on a new agreement with new sets of emission reduction targets.

For details of participating entities and activities of Earth Hour, go to www.earthhour.org.my