Earth Hour - 28th March

This is a nice article which I found in TheStar. newspaper

I loved the positive things that the editor has pointed out which had been iniitiated due wrong reasons of power cut happening due to electricity board. How people realise the small things in life & make most out of the natural things present around us which are never noticed by us during our routine busy schedules.. 

I remember when I was in Kanya Kumari which is the southern tip of Indian subcontinent.. in 1996 we had experienced the glamour of the stars in the sky & in millions.. since this part of the world is amost diving into the Ocean and the skylight is not disturbed by the artificial lightings of the skyscrappers and the street lights and one can enjoy the glory of the Stars in the universe.. 

Editor: Mr. Soo Ewe Jin 

A time to remind ourselves to care for Earth

AT 5.17pm on Aug 3, 1996, the whole of Peninsular Malaysia plunged into darkness.

For 16 hours, Malaysians were left powerless while staff of Tenaga Nasional Bhd worked round the clock to put things back in order.

Information was not forthcoming in the first few hours.

Our patience was sorely tested and tension ran high. Fortunately, it was a Saturday and by Monday, things had pretty much returned to normal.

I remember that Saturday night well. Most of us were out in the garden as all the electrical gadgets in the house were shut down. My neighbourhood had never been so dark before.

And when I looked upwards, I was greeted by such a majestic sight. Millions of stars twinkled in the sky. Artificial light had been snuffed out and Nature had reclaimed its rightful place.

I was reminded of a sign on my desk that read: When the outlook is grim, try looking up.

My good friend who is blind was at a barbecue party somewhere in Brickfields and he told me that he became the most useful person around that night. For while others were lost in the dark, he was well at ease.

There is a restaurant called Nans le Noir which specialises in “blind eating” It has outlets in Zurich, Berlin and London, and the owners emphasise that diners get to “completely re-evaluate their notions of taste” as they strip you of your sense of sight and force you to rely on your other senses to truly taste the “truth of the food”.

As you enter the pitch dark restaurant, you are guided to your seat by the blind staff, who also serve the meals. Any move you make while in the restaurant has to be done with the help of your guide – even getting to the Gents or Ladies.

Sounds interesting, which brings me to the point of today’s Monday Starters.

This Saturday, we will all get a chance to turn off the lights and join the millions (possibly billions) to power down for an hour to remind all of us to treat our planet with loving care.

Earth Hour (www.earthhour.org) starts at 8.30pm on March 28, wherever you live on Planet Earth, and for one hour, you are to turn off the lights.

The number of cities and towns signing up to switch their lights off has already exceeded the ambitious target of 1,000 set by Earth Hour organisers.

While cynics may see this as a gimmick, I see it as a vote for change, that we join hands with fellow inhabitants of the planet to vote for Earth and not for global warming. If enough votes are generated, governments will have to listen and shape policies, locally or globally, to effect change towards a greener and sustainable lifestyle.

I am looking forward to seeing how all the major urban centres in Malaysia will respond.

I doubt if enough lights will go out in the Klang Valley for me to enjoy another incredible starry, starry night.

But I will do my part in my little corner. The lights will go off in my home this Saturday. I will also switch off my mobile phone for an hour because it lights up each time a call or an SMS comes in.

A candlelight dinner with your loved ones would be nice.

This Saturday, by choice, I will turn off the lights. I will enjoy the darkness and appreciate what true light is all about. Will you join me?