Tonight at 8:30 p.m., corporate and individuals in Singapore will switch off their lights to mark Earth Hour. WWF Singapore will be the one to organise the event. More than 500 agencies and institutions in the country will participate on the said event by turning off their lights as a form of battle against climate change. Aside from institutions and agencies, more than half are corporate organisations.
Popular business institutions like McDonald’s, CapitaLand, and Maybank are joining the event by switching off non-essential lights and facade of their properties.
Some are offering Earth Hour-themed packages and discounts on their products. In restaurants in Four Seasons Hotel and Wisma Atria, diners are given an option for organic food menus and candlelight dinners. Alcoholic drinks also go cheap at many cafes and bars.
During the event, Hong Leong Group is the one that leads by switching off the lights at their hotels, offices, and 25 local buildings. In the five hotels of the group, under the Millennium & Copthorne Hotels union, the guests and staff are being encouraged to sleep without air-condition, or to ’sleep naked’.
However, critics are wondering what would be the real effect of this event to the corporate organisations.
According to the associate professor of National University of Singapore, Wong Poh Poh, “Earth Hour is just for the publicity”.
“I have doubts about merely switching lights off for an hour – what real impact can this generate on saving our climate? It’s far better if people and corporate organisations take more effective measures on a daily scale, rather than observing one hour in the calendar year.”
Pertaining to the Blackberry manufacturer’s effort to establish a mobile site for phone users to get Earth Hour updates, a public relations agent for an events management company in the name of Meng Yew Choong, asked: “Shouldn’t people be switching their smartphones off during Earth Hour too?”
“Promoting a sustainable lifestyle unfortunately requires much more than just flicking the switch off for an hour. The danger is that people may feel this gesture is enough, and walk away feeling smug that they did their part,” Choong added. “This will make Earth Hour nothing more than meaningless tokenism.”
Some also thought that if it’s not essential to use the light, then business establishments, properties, and organisations should turn their lights off over the year, instead of applying it for this event only.
However, the industry reasoned out that it is a part of their business moral principles to help the environment. The City Developments also encourage its renters to apply environment-friendly habits everyday, like recycling paper and turning off appliances, if not in use.
In Lend Lease as well, Earth Hour doesn’t halt on today’s activity. According to Ooi Eng Peng, CEO of Lend Lease Investment Management Asia, “This is only one part of our sustainability initiatives – putting words into action”. Its central management offices and head office in Singapore have been turning their lights off everyday for one hour during lunch time since 2008.