Use energy prudently for Earth Hour

That's what TNB, the national power provider said. But I'd say use energy prudently At All Times.

Do you know that, for each unit of energy we consume at home, the power provider used 3 times a much of fuel to supply it. For instance, for 100kWh of energy we use in a week, TNB or SESB need 300kWh worth of fuel to produce it.

One unit saved at home is equivalent to 3 units saved at TNB power plant.

REMEMBER: A small save at home is a big save at the power plant!

Going by the amount of energy saved, it seems that Malaysians' support for Earth Hours is declining:

2009 :  306 MW saved
2010 :  203 MW
2011 : 130 MW
2012 : 105 MW
2013 :  ?

So, anyway, you can do your part by leaving the non-essential lights off, and do the things you like to do (in my case photography). Go ahead, shoot some night activities such as these:-

(Note: All of the following pictures are mine and are copyrighted. If you would like to use them, please ask for my permission and make a backlink to this website)


Go to Suria Sabah and shoot a cityscape. The water front is a great place to start with.



Walk to the beach and shoot the sea. It doesn't require you to turn a light on.



If you happen to be shopping at KLCC today, take a moment of your time to capture Petronas Twin Towers at 8.00 pm.



If you need some music while shooting the fountain, go to Perdana Park in Tanjung Aru, KK. The musical fountain starts as early as 7.00pm



Alternatively, if you like tranquil, peaceful retreat and still able to enjoy the night with the light out, go to Kasih Sayang Resort. Pic: Kota Kinabalu and Likas area shot from the resort.



Or stay at home, go out to your compound and shot the sky. Half an hour will do.


Use energy prudently for Earth Hour: TNB

KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 (Bernama) -- Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has urged the public the reduce their electricity usage during the Earth Hour celebrations here tomorrow (23.3.2013).

Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Communication Adelina Iskandar said since 2009, about 306 megawatts (MW) have been saved during the one-hour campaign, with 203 MW in 2010, 130 MW in 2011 and 105 MW last year.

"We have noticed a drop in electricity saved during the one-hour celebrations, and we hope the public will continue to play their role in supporting the campaign," she said after launching the TNB-WWF Malaysia Earth Hour 2013 awareness campaign here today.

Themed "I will if you will," the Earth Hour invites individuals, businesses, governments and communities to switch off their lights for one hour tomorrow (March 23) from 8.30pm to show their support for environmentally sustainable action.

"We are encouraging the public to plan their daily usage and try to do their house chores using electrical appliances during off-peak hours," Adelina added.

Fancy a long Earth Hour this weekend?

There are few essential utility supplies you cannot afford to go without, such as:

1) water
2) gas
3) electricity

Or, should I rephrase the above and strike out electricity from the list, owing to the fact that electricity is not essential and its absence can be tolerated? Well, at least in this IT age, you shouldn't allow yourself to be deprived of these basic 'needs'. Needs because these are not merely 'wants' anymore.



SESB announcement posted on its website.


16 hours of blackout?

As far as schedule is concerned, many people will be without power supply tomorrow (June 23) beginning 10.00pm until 2.00pm the next day. That would be 16 long hours of blackout. And there goes my EURO football match between France and Spain! Affected areas include most parts of Putatan district, to part of old Papar road, to Kepayan including most parts of Penampang and Luyang, and the busy Karamunsing/Sadong Jaya in Kota Kinabalu.

But why 16 hours, and why the power cut in the middle of the night? Can we not do the maintenance works during daytime when people are not confined at home? This maybe acceptable thirty years ago but not today. Not anymore. You cannot just simply cut the power off and think that it is okay.

This is all about the tidak apa (it's okay) attitude some people are clinging on to. "It is okay to leave half of the city without power supply. It is okay if the services we provide is sub-standard. It's okay, people will soon forget about it." And the list goes on.


Be prepared to spend more and shorten the power interruption

Being the monopoly in the business, SESB should shoulder the social obligation to supply power with minimum interruption. Sixteen continuous hours is just unacceptable.

If the intended tasks permit it, break the job into several shorter hours. If it is not possible to be carried out in stages, then SESB must put a provision to deploy mobile generator sets to the affected areas. Quite surely, substations are equipped with the necessary switchgear to take-in power from sources other than transmission/distribution main.

This exercise is not cheap, and it may not be required or stated in the supply contract but you are morally and ethically obligated to do it.

I will be directly affected by this lengthy power supply shutdown and I am very disappointed by the way the utility company schedule its maintenance works.

HAVE A BLAST EVERYONE, AND ENJOY YOUR LONG EARTH HOURS TOMORROW!

Earth Hour 2012

Environment-conscious citizens can take part in one of the various activities lined up for this year’s Earth Hour - a practice observed worldwide to raise awareness on climate change - this evening. If you are still wondering or unclear about it, you can read about what is earth hour here.

Consumers are encouraged to switch off their non-essential lightings or electrical appliances during Earth Hour, which falls today, March 31, 2012. As its name suggest the period is one hour, starting from 8.30pm. During this period, our local energy utility, SESB, expects a reduction of load of 50 MW. But it also anticipate up to 70MW of drop of power consumption throughout the state.

For the record, highest drop of power demand was recorded in March, 2007 totalling 30.28 MW. Consumers in both Sabah and Federal Territory of Labuan took part in that practice.

Earth Hour Happenings: What and Where.

City Hall leads. City Hall collaborates with Sutera Harbour Resort to hold exciting programs at the tennis court (Sutera Harbour Resort), starting 6.00pm with food stalls, children’s recycled item contest, spa product show, and night photography. Night photography can be very rewarding and you would be surprised at how fascinating the results could be. Try it, compact point-and-shoot or DSLR camera would both give interesting perspectives.

Perhaps a good idea to take picture of the night/evening view of Sutera Harbour Resort itself.

Street-wise. Turning off of streetlights at 8.30pm along the main road from Tun Mustapha building (Yayasan Sabah) to the citi centre to Coastal Highway and down to Tanjung Aru. An entourage by the Mayor and other guests will cycle from the city to First Beach, Tanjung Aru later at 9.30pm.

Tun Mustapha Tower is on the far left. Can't imagine these street lights being switched-off.

Educating the youth. At St. Michael’s School, Miss Earth Sabah, Olivia Vun gave a talk on the Earth Hour and also conducted a quiz session with 500 secondary students on Friday. Organised by MNE (Mandy Nandu) Productions, such program is one of Miss Earth Sabah’s initiatives to practice the cause that they upheld. Also present was Sabah Environment Protection Director, Yabi Yangkat, and the program sponsor Gardenia’s GM David Yong.

What about petition? Sabah Wetlands Conservation Society (SWCS) will have a petition signing during Earth Hour (today, March 31 2012) against a proposed condominium project in the vicinity of the First Beach in Tanjung Aru.

Tg. Aru First Beach - maybe SWCS should highlight this indiscriminate felling of trees, too.

A challenge for a good cause

In support of the Earth Hour 2012, HSBC Bank Malaysia will switch off non-essential external lights and internal signboards in all of its branches starting 8.30pm nationwide.

HSBC also challenged you to a duel: “I will if you will”. In this challenge, the management pledges to plant 10 trees for every 1kg of used dry cells, rechargeable, mobile phone or laptop batteries collected. Special recycle bins will be placed at common and public areas within its headquarters in Leboh Ampang, Kuala Lumpur and selected branches nationwide. If you are HSBC’s customer and happen to read this, do ask the bank if they have the bins and take part of you have used batteries with you.

What about you?

If you prefer to stay at home and watch this weekend football matches, or enjoy some great movies, the least you can do is switch of one or two of your non-essential lightings, such as the 60W corridor bulb, the  2 x 36W garage fluorescent lamps, etc. For me, I will turn off one of the energy saving lamp at the backyard and the fluorescent tube at the entrance.

Happy Earth Hour, everyone. AND save few watts of energy today.


Note: All photographs in this article are taken by myself and are therefore copyrighted. Should you wish to paste them on your website, kindly give due credit and link them back to this page.

Earth Hour 2009

As at 24 March 2009 there are 2,398 cities, towns and municipalities in 83 countries around the world (earthhour website) that have committed to vote-earth for Earth Hour 2009. The vote earth tag is aimed at giving the human race the opportunity to elect between Earth and global warming.

So, what is Earth Hour and what is the significance of this campaign?

It is an annual international event created by the WWF, held on the last Saturday of March, that asks households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change (Wikipedia).

Alas, for the people residing in Kota Kinabalu or generally in Sabah, the call to switch off their lights for an hour at 8.30pm come March 28 in support of action on global warming may remind the people more of the perennial black-outs rather than the intended awareness campaign itself.

It is like, you are practising this for years and against your will - I am refering to the many incidences of sudden blackouts that sometimes results in going without electricity for hours. In Penampang, it can happen any time. It can be in the form of power dips, multiple power trips of 2 to 3 black-outs and it can sometime go on for hours; so much so that if I were to make complaint using my fixed line telephone, the operator at SESB (Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd) call centre could tell my name by just looking at my caller ID.

I am not calling this call a joke, but in Sabah you can not help but think that way. Sometime you just wonder if it is due to lack of political will, pure case of bad planning on the part of the utility company, or is it true that the government does not have the necessary fund to improve the situation. What is clear is that every now and then politicians come over (and I mean, the big shots from federal level) with pledge to do something, with little or no result to shout about.

Back to the Earth Hour. As one of the considerate and aware citizen, I would participate in this event by switching off a couple of the fluorescent lamps come 28 March. It may not make much difference individually but a synchronised action globally sure will get the message through.

Happy Earth Hour!