Thousands FORCED to participate in Earth Hour 2009, in PITCH BLACK, twice as long!

BALIK PULAU, Malaysia: Due to an electrical supply failure during a brief thunderstorm, thousands of residents in the village-town of Kongsi, Balik Pulau, Penang were literally forced to participate in the Earth Hour 2009 campaign, for 130 minutes starting around 7:15 pm, ie. about 75 minutes earlier than the planned start of Earth Hour 2009 campaign for 8:30pm - not just with all lights switched off, but with everything including fans, TVs, non-mobile computers/internet machines, refrigerators etc. also switched off.

What started to be a brief electrical interruption following a possible lightning strike and thunders turned out to be a pitch-black experience for thousands of Balik Pulau residents, with everything including traffic light and road lights turned off for the full slightly over two hours, instead of the 1-hour limit for environmental campaign.

Reporter was caught in the middle:



Among businesses affected with considerable loss of revenue include:-

1. All shops at Taman Sri Indah including supposedly 24-hour 7-eleven convenience store which were forced to stall almost all sale transactions for over two hours due to inoperational cash machines, a restaurant, a cybercafe Internet service shop, two general retail stores, and over a dozen other shops which do not have a backup generator except one chinese restaurant which has a generator in place, and a burger stall which relies on independent power generator.
   
   
2. Shops and restaurants along Jalan Besar/Balik Pulau from Taman Sri Indah to Kongsi including Azlan Tomyam, Astaka K-Kongsi, restaurants at Kompleks Balik Pulau, Shell gas station, Maybank ATM etc.
   
   
   
3. All shops in Kongsi, near the Balik Pulau roundabout except two general retail shops which has backup power generator in place, and hawker stalls which use independent power generator.
   

In summary, dozens of shop owners in Balik Pulau had incurred in loss of sales due to accidental power cut that looks like a 'mandatory' participation in the controversial WWF-initiated, Sydney-started Earth Hour 2009 campaign, and thousands of Kongsi residents had to sweat out and settle with being able to do very little during prime time dinner & quality time hours. It's lucky however that it was raining at the time or those affected would have to suffer post-sunset heatwaves (The sun set starting at 7:29 pm today, and it was pitch black starting at 8:38 pm).

The two-hour power interruption however did not affect the new business park near Kompleks Pasar MPPP Balik Pulau, with shops including KFC and Kassim Mustafa restaurant, which happens to be situated next to Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) building, were able to continue business as usual, and seemingly more properous due to shift of patrons from Kongsi downtown. Houses along Jalan Pondok Upeh were also not affected, as also with all buildings south of Taman Sri Indah including Masjid Balik Pulau, Balik Pulau Public Library, District Police Headquarters and Petronas Gas Station which were lit up brightly as usual.

Power was finally restored by 9:25 pm, about five minutes earlier than the planned ending for Earth Hour 2009 in Malaysia.

With just days to April Fool's Day, for many, this incident was not a laughing matter, and TNB, the government-linked sole supplier of electricity to this town is expected to offer an explanation with regards to this major inconvenience. Consider that writer nearly hit a road-crossing lady due to pitch-black nature of the roads!

Emosi

(kita tidak perlu takut pada dunia penuh kalut)

Balik Pulau (20 FEB 2009): Demikian judul sajak yang dibacakan secara berduet oleh Timbalan Naib Canselor Hal Ehwal Pelajar-Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Profesor Omar bin Othman dan Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri Kawasan Pulau Betong, Tuan Sr. Hj Muhammad Farid bin Saad ketika majlis Gema Puisi Gaza: Erti Kemanusiaan yang diadakan di Anjung Indah, Balik Pulau awal malam tadi.

Terselit juga komentar sinis kemelut politik di Perak dalam bacaan Prof Omar berbunyi:

Di Gaza pemuda berjuang melontar batu pada tentera
Di sini orang kita melontar batu pada kereta kerabat diraja

(In Gaza, the youngs throw stones towards militarymen
Here, our guys throw stones towards those vehicles carrying royal families)

Majlis yang dianjurkan oleh Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) dengan kerjasama Jabatan Pembangunan Negeri Pulau Pinang, USM, BASKEP dan KADUN Pulau Betong tersebut dihadiri oleh delegasi dari semua pihak penganjur dan turut diramaikan dengan delegasi para pelajar dan guru-guru dari Maktab Rendah Sains MARA Balik Pulau (diketuai oleh Pengetua En. Mohd Sabri bin Ali), Ahli-ahli jawatankuasa Dewan Perniagaan Melayu Malaysia Pulau Pinang (diketuai oleh Yang Dipertuanya, En. Rizal Faris Mohideen bin Abdul Kader, pihak media, penduduk-penduduk tempatan dan wakil dari badan-badan lain.


Hasil sumbangan para hadirin diserahkan kepada wakil dari Palestin di akhir majlis selepas ditamatkan dengan bacaan doa.

Ringkas majlisnya, dan wajar diteruskan di serata negara... tapi mungkin perlu diperdalami semangat penentangan seperti yang dibawakan oleh lagu oleh Michael Heart ini:

Gema Puisi Gaza @ Anjung Indah (Jum, 20 FEB '09)

Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Wilayah Utara, bersama-sama Pejabat Pembangunan Negeri Pulau Pinang, Universiti Sains Malaysia dan Badan Kesenian Balik Pulau akan menganjurkan majlis Gema Puisi Gaza:Erti Kemanusiaan pada 20 Februari 2009 (Jumaat), pukul 8.30 malam bertempat di Anjung Indah, Balik Pulau, Pulau Pinang.

Tetamu kehormat yang akan turut mendeklamasikan puisi pada majlis berkenaan ialah TYT Yang Di-Pertua Negeri Pulau Pinang. Antara tetamu kehormat lain yang akan turut hadir ialah Tan Sri Prof. Dzulkifli Abd. Razak, Naib Canselor Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Prof. Omar Othman, Timbalan Naib Canselor Hal Ehwal Pelajar, USM dan Encik Nik Ali bin Mat Yunus Pegawai Pembangunan Negeri Pulau Pinang. ADUN Pulau Betong, YB Sr. Hj Muhammad Farid bin Saad juga dijangka akan hadir.

Saudara Azmeer, penyanyi dan komposer yang tidak asing lagi akan turut mempersembahkan lagu puisi sempena majlis berkenaan. Majlis ini antara lain bertujuan untuk melahirkan rasa simpati kepada rakyat Palestin di samping memungut derma untuk Tabung Palestin.

Orang ramai dijemput hadir.

Untuk maklumat lanjut, sila hubungi Puan Khairiyah Ghazali di talian 04-5377241/2 atau Encik Ahmad Hashim di talian 019-5047171

Consensus ('Muafakat') @Balik Pulau

BALIK Pulau MP Yusmadi Yusoff wants to give an infusion of new life to his constituency by launching a project known as Consensus @Balik Pulau (Muafakat@Balik Pulau).

He said the project was designed to improve the livelihood of the locals.

He was currently working on the initial stage of the project.

“I have to finalise the support system, get the right people to work with me on the project and also collect sufficient information regarding the local socio-economic pattern,’’ he said at his Hari Raya Open House held at the Balik Pulau Public Facilitator and Information Parliamentary Community Centre grounds recently.

Yusmadi said he had set up a People’s Academy (Akademi Rakyat) where locals could attend legal literacy classes and youth religious classes weekly.

“I want to focus on community empowerment and capacity building for the locals so as to equip them with basic knowledge and other skills."

“Apart from this, I want to create an environment to nurture a harmonious relationship among the different races in the community,’’ he added.

He said the open house was put together by villagers from Kampung Jalan Bharu and Kampung Sungai Burong.

“The open house reveals the true muhibbah (goodwill) spirit as locals of all races come together and contribute by providing food and other assistance,’’ he said.

Some 3,000 people attended the open house held from 11am to 4pm.

SOURCE: The Star Malaysia (Online), MP launches project to improve locals’ livelihood (Monday, 6 OCT 2008)