Malacca switches to LED lighting

> New street lamps will be longer-lasting and brighter for safer driving at night

MALACCA: The state government here is switching to light-emitting diode (LED) street lights in stages in an effort to save electricity and move towards more sustainable development.

State Housing, Local Government and Environment Committee chairman Datuk Ismail Othman said the effort would be carried out by four local authorities, starting with the Malacca Historic City Council.

He said more than 1,000 LED street lights have been installed in tourist areas, including Bandar Hilir and Klebang.

“We are very serious in applying green technology, that is a state government objective,” he said after the “Earth Hour Night Walk” event here on Saturday night.

The move by Malacca is seen as being in line with worldwide trends to replace existing lights with LED models.

In the United States, 10% of public lighting already use LED.

While several areas in the Klang Valley have switched to LED lighting, including roads around the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, almost all street lights elsewhere in the country utilises dull yellow highpressure sodium (HPS) lights.

HPS lamps, while remaining popular since its introduction in the 1970s, are known to display numerous deficiencies compared with white LED light, including doubling driver’s peripheral vision and increasing brake reaction time 25%.

HPS lights also have trouble in accurately reproducing colours and are less costeffective.

LED bulbs have also been proven to last longer, besides providing brighter and wider illumination that create a safer environment for driving at night.