ashamed of being associated with ignorant Bruneians

Mar 29, 2009

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Earth Hour: Too little too late
By Narissa Noor
Brunei has placed yet another vote in support of Earth Hour as the Orchid Garden Hotel and the Empire Hotel and Country Club have jumped on the proverbial bandwagon along with the Sheraton Hotel and HSBC.

On Friday, the Department of Electrical Services made a last ditch attempt to raise awareness in Brunei by encouraging the public to join the world in switching off their lights. But the question remains - is this too little too late? The lights will be going out for Earth Hour organised by the World Wildlife Fund to draw attention to global warming. About 2,800 cities in 83 countries have signed up, according to WWF.

The latest to jump on the Earth Hour bandwagon here in Brunei is NBT Sdn Bhd.

"We have registered ourselves on the Earth Hour website... we will switch off the lights between 8.30pm to 9.30pm," announced Ninan Chacko, NBT Managing Director.

"We also encourage our customers to send their vehicles for regular servicing to further reduce motor emissions on Brunei roads," he added.

While the initiatives made by these admirable few are commendable and exemplary, Brunei's efforts have been far overshadowed by the vast efforts in the neighbouring countries leaving Brunei, a country that makes up one third of the Heart of Borneo, far behind in eliminating complacency and ignorance of climate change and its devastating effects on the Earth.

Earth Hour 2009 will take place tonight between 8.30pm and 9.30pm local time and one can only hope to see the capital and the rest of the country plunge into darkness for a mere hour.

HSBC will be switching their lights off at its main branch in the capital as well as their roadshow to be held at The Mall, Gadong, later tonight.

Orchid Garden Hotel, the Empire Hotel and Country Club and the Sheraton Hotel will also join in and switch off for a full hour tonight.

According to the Straits Times, more than 10,000 people and 450 schools, malls, hotels and companies have signed up in Singapore to turn off their lights for an hour on Saturday from 8.30pm.

A local hospital in Singapore will also be switching off their lights in its wards, along some corridors and those on the facade of its building, the Straits Times reported.

Zahir Latif, a 25-year-old Singaporean said that ubiquitous advertisements and government-produced public service announcements have been circulated for weeks prior to Earth Hour which will be held today at 8.30pm local time worldwide.

Zahir will be just one of the thousands in Singapore who will be switching off their lights later tonight.

Meanwhile, in neighbouring Malaysia, similar events have been organised across the country.

Syu'aib Rafie, a Bruneian student at the Lim Kok Wing University of Creative Technology in Kuala Lumpur, is impressed by the efforts of the Malaysian government in banding the people together in support of the event.

"They're switching off the lights for a whole hour in the city!" he exclaimed. "My university is doing its part by having a candlelit cookout and an acoustic concert."

"All these efforts encourage me to do my part for the earth. My lecturers and friends will also be watching the Earth Hour DVD as an awareness incentive prior to the "blackout"," he added.

So has Brunei done enough to match these efforts as they announced their participation on the eve of the event?

A 19-year-old local student studying at Maktab Duli Pengiran Muda Al-Muhtadee Billah admitted to being ignorant of Earth Hour.

When told of the efforts of schools in neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore, she said: "They never mentioned anything about Earth Hour in school let alone what it is about."

The absence of local public service announcements has also left much of the public "in the dark" on the significance and importance of Earth Hour 2009.

"I would love to see the Brunei capital go dark for the event but other than an informed few I don't think the average Bruneians either know or would want to switch off their lights," one local commented.

Few, however, have started their own initiatives in support of the global fight against climate change.

Last ditch attempt?! Don't make me laugh. Taught in school or not, I registered on the Earth Hour website a week ago. Don't make petty excuses.

I feel like I'm just one dumb Bruneian getting all concerned about an important thing called climate change for nothing.

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