Gerakan head of central bureau on environment, safety and quality of life and Derga State Assemblyman, Dr Cheah Soon Hai urges the public to support 2012 Earth Hour meaningful event by switching off lights and any electrical equipment which are not in use for one hour on the Earth Hour day.

He said, the objective of this event is not so much on how much electricity we can save in that one hour, instead, it is to remind people of the importance of taking care of our planet Earth. He said that it requires international effort to protect our Mother Nature from further damage due to excessive usage of natural resources.

Dr Cheah said, this year is the fifth Earth Hour year and it will be held on the 31st of March from 8.30 pm till 9.30 pm (local time) internationally. The event was participated by 5,251 cities in 135 countries around the globe last year which shows an increase from compared to 126 participating countries in 2010.

Dr Cheah said, “we should cut down on the usage and wastage of electricity and this can help to reduce environmental pollution and protect the environment in the sense that the resources used to produce the amount of electricity is reduced, so we should make it a habit to save electricity in our daily life, and for that matter, we should be mindful when we use other resources such as water as well.”

He also said, “Actually, we should not just switch off the lights on Earth Hour day, the awareness to not waste earth’s resources should always be in our mind and practiced everyday. The purpose of Earth Hour is not switching off the light for one hour just on Earth Hour day, but it is to create awareness at a global scale that we should learn how to cherish and not waste earth’s resources, not just electricity, but also water, food, wood, soil and etc.”