‘Earth Hour: Every small action adds up’
SIBU: Switching off lights for an hour may seem like a small gesture, but with everyone’s effort, significant savings from energy consumption can be achieved and the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere — the key culprit behind climate change — can be reduced.
Assistant Minister for Local Government Datu Dr Penguang Manggil said this when asked if residential buildings too should observe Earth Hour instead of just confining the effort of turning off non- essential lights for an hour to government and commercial buildings.
“Switching off your lights for just an hour will save us millions of ringgit in terms of energy consumption and more importantly, will reduce carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere, which is responsible for climate change.
“Let us work together to save our planet for the sake of our future generations and make their world a safer place to live in,” he told The Borneo Post.
Earth Hour is held on March 25 every year, when more than 170 countries would go dark from 8.30pm to 9.30pm (according to their respective local times) as a show of support for protecting the planet.
The move was initiated by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) 11 years ago as a lights- off event in Sydney, Australia. Now, it has become a global movement.
On this, Penguang said all civil societies including governments, communities and individuals had been urged to participate by switching off their nonessential lights for just an hour as a demonstration of support for
Switching off your lights for just an hour will save us millions of ringgit in terms of energy consumption and more importantly, will reduce carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere, which is responsible for climate change.
action against climate change.
In a similar sentiment with Penguang, Councillor Jimmy De Rozario said the switching off of non- essential should also be practised at home.
“We should start at home so that our next generation would make this practice a norm as they have been trained to observe Earth Hour. Not only that, this should not only be observed during Earth Hour; it should be practised at all times.
“When we start at home, our next generation would know how important it is to save energy, which could save our earth,” he said.
Meanwhile Sibu Rural District Council ( SRDC) chairman Councillor Sempurai Petrus Ngelai reminded all residents at Sibu Jaya Township, as well as those at Selangau Bazaar and all buildings under SRDC’s jurisdiction to observe Earth Hour.
“We can play this small part in saving our environment. Conserving energy is part of our global efforts to save Mother Earth. Therefore, with one hour’s effort, we can reduce energy consumption and help (conserve) our environment,” he said.
On Saturday night at Sibu Town Square Phase 1, the lights at the state’s tallest building Wisma Sanyan were switched off.
The lights were also off at Sibu Gateway but this did not deter the rollerblade enthusiasts from conducting their nightly activity there.
Datu Dr Penguang Manggi, Assistant Minister for Local Government