I am concerned about the Climate Change problem, and thinks that EarthHour is a good idea to spread the message to more people that we need to be more concerned about the effects of things we do to the only Earth we have. However, while the Climate Change issue has gotten more recognition over the years, it is telling that some people/organisations just jump on the bandwagon to show the world that they too are ‘in it’, while not really having the heart to solve the problem.
In Feb, The Straits Times carried an article on the target of getting 1m people in Singapore to join in EarthHour this year. On the same day, in the Life section, there was another article on the new Illuma shopping centre coming up in the Bugis area, and the Singapore Lighting Master Plan was mentioned in it. Seeing such a coincidence, I decided to dig a little more into this.
What I found out is that in 2006, URA engaged some lighting consultants and launched a plan to light up our city centre. Part of the plans is to incentivise owners of existing building to set up ADDITIONAL lighting and for owners of newly built buildings to incorporate more lighting into their plans, by either giving them a maximum of 2% of additional gross floor area or a maximum of S$500,000 to implement lighting in accordance to the master plan. There was even an exhibition showcasing what the final result could look like (http://www.ura.gov.sg/lightingplan/). The following image is one of the images used in the site.
The masterplan suggested that the owners light up the buildings from 7pm to 11pm on weekends.
So, even if all the buildings along the the Singapore skyline signed up for EarthHour, we only saved 1 hour of electricity, but once this plan comes in effect, we are spending extra (4 x 2 x 52) 416 hours of electricity on lighting. I wonder if this is an appropriate message fro the Government to the people on its attitude towards the Climate Change issue.
Is there anything wrong with the current skyline? From what I gather from the site, the Lighting Masterplan will “develop a signature image for the city, create a beautiful nightscape and enliven the visitor’s experience”. In the larger scheme of things, signature image, beautiful nightscape and enlivened experiences would probably count for nothing when we have to bear with the consequences of Climate Change.