Business

Monday March 30, 2009

An idea whose time has come

Monday Starters - By Soo Ewe Jin


RENOWNED architect Cesar Pelli has many children around the world, including our iconic Petronas Twin Towers.

In the column Your 10 Questions (StarBizWeek, March 21), Pelli said: “My buildings are like my children to me. I get great, deep pleasure from revisiting them and I love to hear other people talking and saying nice things about them. Fortunately people often mention, in glowing terms, the Petronas Towers.”

It has been eight years since Pelli visited Kuala Lumpur and, while he may be surprised by the city’s changing skyline, he should be pleased that his Twin Towers has, by and large, been well cared for.

I have not met Pelli in person but I am glad that all it took was just one e-mail for him to agree to be featured in our column. It proves that even at 83, he still checks his mailbox regularly, which is really a good maintenance culture that all of us with an e-mail address should emulate.

It has been said that we have a First World infrastructure and Third World mentality and there is certainly an element of truth to this statement.

Many of our buildings, public facilities, tourist sites and websites can be compared to the best in the world but the lack of a maintenance culture causes them to lose their appeal eventually.

A new project with a “wow” factor may end up like a millstone around one’s neck once the “wow” loses its “oomph”.

We have to be careful that good money is not poured into bad projects simply because one feels good doing so.

Pelli would also be pleased that his beloved Twin Towers went dark for an hour in support of Earth Hour.

In last week’s column, I asked readers to join me in turning our lights off on Saturday.

I am not sure how many did but I am glad that one reader e-mailed ahead to say that he would. What is more heartening is that it was his 10-year-old son who prompted him to join in the campaign.

Some have cynically dismissed this campaign but I truly believe that there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.

Some of us may have become too jaded to even care about the future but I am glad that more people, especially the young, are concerned and are prepared to make a difference.

Not just about the environment but in many other areas too, including politics, where they realise that things do change if people care enough to make them happen.

Yes, Earth Hour is indeed a symbolic act but we all know that symbolic acts can become history-defining moments. They are the tipping points that can change the course of history.

When that happens, we can be proud that we were there, that we switched off our lights, and that we vowed to do our part for Planet Earth.

● Deputy executive editor Soo Ewe Jin and his family discussed green issues in the dark on Saturday. It was an uplifting experience.

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