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Straits Times Forum online 8 Jun 06
Don't release balloons at Sentosa. They kill the turtles which eat them
Letter from Isabel Kang (Ms)

I wish to comment on the recent Sentosa Balloon Hat Festival. It was a colourful and novel idea to have such an event in Singapore and Sentosa island. I was not at the event myself.

However, from news report on television on June 4, I was disappointed to learn that the organising committee had arranged to release balloons in the air. Any balloon released into the air will eventually deflate and fall into the sea. More likely than not, these balloons will fall into the waters off Singapore.

It has been known that sea creatures, mostly turtles, often mistake the deflated rubber balloons as jelly fish and eat them, causing them to choke and die.

I do not think it is a responsible act for the organiser to release the balloons into the air as part of the celebrations.

We are not the only ones living on this earth. The animals have as much right as us to live too.

I hope that this will serve to remind other event organisers not to release balloons into space at future events. There are many other ways to add excitement and colour to a show.

Let's preserve the earth and all it holds so that our future generations can enjoy it too.
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