Many Bruneians indifferent to Earth Hour campaign

MANY Bruneians are still in the dark on the procedures and objectives of participating in Earth Hour 2009 to battle global warming.

The concept to take action against global warming is interesting and has potential, but its feasibility has to be questioned, said Frankie Tong, a sales executive working in the private sector.

"I have seen an advertisement about it on Astro but to be honest I have no idea what it is about or what it is for," said the 25-year-old.

"I think it is kind of stupid to urge the public to switch off their lights because most of us will not pay attention to it. It might be a better idea to have the government shut down the power for us instead," he added.

"There has to be better promotion by the proper authorities to better inform us of what should be done and also why it is done," said the sales executive, adding that it will be useless if nobody is observing the event in Brunei.

He suggested more local companies to participate in the event to encourage others to join. "More big companies have to show their support because they are the ones who uses most of the power."

Norasiti, a single woman in her mid-30s echoed Frankie's suggestion of having better promotions for the event.

"This is for a very good cause and it will be wasted if people don't know about it," she said.

Currently unemployed, Norasiti told The Brunei Times that she read about the event through online blogs but never thought of participating in the global campaign.

"It is mostly passive reading, I haven't even heard anything about it in Brunei," she said, adding that a different promotional strategy should be implemented instead.

"Why not have teachers teach the importance and significance of Earth Hour? The children can then relate this information to their parents. I think this would be a much more effective way of spreading the word," said Norasiti.

She also expressed her concern when switching off her lights at night. "I understand the logic of turning off your lights at night, but why not turn off the power completely during the day?" she said.

"There is just less security during night time where most criminal activities take place," she added.

"Personally, I don't think Bruneians are that concerned over the environment. Just look at all the open burning that we do around here," said a 22-year-old male who opted for anonymity.

Recently married, the man who is currently working part time, while studying in Universiti Brunei Darussalam attributed this to the good fortune that the country had experienced over the years.

"I think the reason why we have not faced any environmental problems yet was due to the country being rich in both wealth and resources," he said.

"The public has to learn more about how to conserve and clean up the country. We cannot just sit back and wait for others to clean up for us," he added.

Started in 2007 in Sydney, some 2.2 million homes and businesses took part in the Earth Hour event which promoted the switching off of lights for an entire hour with the purpose of conserving electricity to improve awareness and fight against global warming.

The event then grew into a global sustainability movement, involving 50 million people in 2008. This year, Earth Hour is aiming to involve one billion people to switch off their lights as part of the global campaign.

This year, Earth Hour 2009 will be celebrated internationally on March 28, from 8.30pm to 9.30pm local time.

The Brunei Times