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  Channel NewsAsia 26 Jul 07
Saving Gaia Forum aims to raise environmental issues

Today Online 23 Jul 07
An environmental series that promises to shock

Channel NewsAsia 11 Jul 07
MediaCorp organises green party to fight climate change

Straits Times Forum 11 Jul 07
It's Greek, MediaCorp, so what's the point of asking?
Letter from Ignatius Hie Hian Ling

Today Online 7 Jul 07
MediaCorp, in shades of green

Channel NewsAsia 6 Jul 07
MediaCorp aims to do its part to protect environment

Channel NewsAsia 4 Jul 07
Environmental issues hit S'pore screens as MediaCorp goes green

SINGAPORE : MediaCorp is going green this month in an effort to make Singaporeans more aware of environmental issues.

The green programming starts on Saturday with a 24-hour worldwide concert. "Live Earth" will hit Channel 5 at 7pm on July 7 and last for 24 hours. Channel U will also telecast Live Earth from 9:30pm on July 7.

Countries from seven continents, including Japan, Brazil and the US, will be hosting concerts featuring over 100 stars and bands committed to saving the environment. They include Madonna, the Black Eyed Peas and the Police. Two billion people are expected to watch the event worldwide. Hollywood's finest are also lending their support, offering green facts and tips.

In Singapore, the MediaCorp television logos will go green for the day. The broadcaster is also calling on the public to show their support too.

"We hope that by encouraging Singaporeans to wear green on July 7 and 8, it will bring a new level of awareness in Singapore, and for people to show their support for the environment in a highly visual manner," said Joy Olby-Tan, VP of Programming, MediaCorp TV.

As part of Arts Central's month-long celebration of Earth, the channel will air "Life in the Undergrowth" - a documentary that exposes the private lives of creepy crawlies such as spiders, worms and insects. It also includes the mating rituals of the leopard slug.

From July 23, Channel NewsAsia will start screening "Saving Gaia" - a six-part documentary series examining how countries in the region are tackling climate change. Gaia in Greek means "Earth" and is synonymous with "Mother Earth".

This is the first time MediaCorp is launching a month-long Green campaign across its television, news, radio and print platforms.

The decision follows its signing of the UN Global Compact, with the pledge to support four key principles - human rights, labour standards, anti-corruption and the environment. - CNA /ls

Channel NewsAsia 6 Jul 07
MediaCorp aims to do its part to protect environment

SINGAPORE: MediaCorp is using its various media platforms to spread the message on the importance of protecting the environment, as the organisation feels climate change and its potential for disaster calls for a more concerted effort from the society.

This is the first time that the broadcaster is launching a month-long Green Campaign across its television, news, radio and print platforms.

From 23 July, Channel NewsAsia will screen a six-part documentary called "Saving Gaia" ('Gaia' in Greek means 'Earth'), which looks at how countries in Asia are addressing environmental issues.

Woon Tai Ho, Managing Director, MediaCorp News, said: "It is, if you like, our inconvenient truth – the earth is not in such a good shape. The topics discussed in the documentary range from what happens when rivers dry up to what happens when cities start to sink.

"The matter is actually more urgent than we give it credit for. In fact, the consequences of the climate change can actually happen within our life-time. When we asked movie star Joan Chen to narrate it, she said 'yes' because she knows it's for a good cause."

Members of the public can also chip in to help ease climate change.

MediaCorp will launch a "Saving Gaia begins with me" online campaign from 7 July where the public can pledge to protect the planet.

The first 500 to do so will receive a reusable shopping bag from sponsor Singapore Petroleum Company.

MediaCorp is also encouraging its staff to bring their mugs to the cafeteria so as to cut down on the usage of styrofoam cups, which are not biodegradable.

Channel NewsAsia plans to invite business partners to a "Saving Gaia Breakfast Forum", which will touch on the practice and value of going green.

MediaCorp Channel 5 will be screening the round-the-world Live Earth! concerts, which will last for 24 hours, from 7pm on Saturday, 7 July, to promote the fight against global warming.

MediaCorp Channel U will also be broadcasting the full version of the Live Earth! Shanghai concert from 9.30pm on Saturday. - CNA/so

Today Online 7 Jul 07
MediaCorp, in shades of green

AMONG ALL the environmental buzzwords bandied about these days, one word that is rarely heard is 'Gaia'. Greek in origin, it means Mother Earth.

And the fact that it's rarely used in today's lexicon is why Channel NewsAsia decided to call their six-part environmental series Saving Gaia, which starts on July 23 at 8.30pm.

"We decided to use 'Gaia' because if we continue to use words like global warming, climate change — terms that have been used for so long — people may not sit up (and take notice)," said Mr Woon Tai Ho, managing director of MediaCorp News.

"By putting an 'old' name to our Earth, hopefully we can get people to look at it anew and realise that the dramatic consequences of the deteriorating health of our Earth can happen within our lifetime."

Saving Gaia, which will be narrated by actress Joan Chen, examines environmental issues in Asian countries like Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, China and India.

But it's not just Channel NewsAsia that is going green.

Saving Gaia is just one facet of MediaCorp's large-scale green initiative, which kicks off on Saturday, with NTUC FairPrice stepping in as sponsor for the initiatives over television news, radio and print.

This week, the magazine mastheads of 8 Days and i-Weekly have gone green, as have the channel logos of MediaCorp TV stations for Saturday. Similarly, the masthead of this weekend edition of Today is also green.

On top of these initiatives, Live Earth — a series of concerts across seven continents — will be shown on Channel 5 from 7pm on Saturday to 7am on Sunday.

Channel U will air the Shanghai leg from 9.30pm on Saturday.

On Wednesday, Arts Central begins its telecast of Life in the Undergrowth, a five-part documentary series about life on our planet.

There will also tips on saving the Earth broadcast over MediaCorp's radio stations.

You can take part in this green initiative by logging on to www.savinggaia.sg to pledge their commitment to protecting the Earth.

The first 5,000 people to make pledges will receive a reusable shopping bag from Singapore Petroleum Company.

Straits Times Forum 11 Jul 07
It's Greek, MediaCorp, so what's the point of asking?
Letter from Ignatius Hie Hian Ling

IN THE recent campaign on saving Earth, MediaCorp came up with a Greek word and started interviewing people on the street, asking them what the meaning of the word was.

It showed that the majority of the locals did not know its meaning.

Of course! We don't speak Greek here!

So what message is MediaCorp trying to drive here? Is it: Expand your word vocabulary, people! or 'Do your part to save our Earth, people!'?

I can't see how knowing the meaning of a Greek word can save our Earth.

To make it worse, this was repeated over and over again on Channel NewsAsia until I got really sick of that Greek word that I changed the channel every time this was aired.

Why can't MediaCorp come up with some nice advertisements? Something which does not miss the point? Can we save the Earth just by wearing green? What concrete action has MediaCorp done to save the Earth? What were the results? How much has it saved our Earth? How can you prove it?

Why doesn't it air all those instead of mocking the people's inability to know the meaning of just one Greek word?

As a Singaporean, I am very offended by this advertisement.

Channel NewsAsia 11 Jul 07
MediaCorp organises green party to fight climate change

SINGAPORE: Buy a drink, save a tree. This is what guests at MediaCorp's "The Gaia Party" on Wednesday evening were encouraged to do, to help save the environment.

The event was organised to raise funds for a conservation project in Singapore. For one month, party-venue provider Hacienda is donating the money used to buy Martinis, to plant trees to help mitigate climate change. Three Martinis, at $10 each, buys one sapling tree.

Despite critics who argue that energy is wasted whenever events such as this party are held, organisers believe the investment is worth it.

Howard Shaw, Executive Director, Singapore Environment Council (SEC), said: "They would be at home maybe with the air-conditioning on, maybe somewhere else at some other venue. It's good to see vendors like Hacienda adding value to what they do and carrying a message, in addition to providing this great environment."

Trees are estimated to be able to absorb about 20 kilogrammes of carbon dioxide each, per year.

The SEC wants to plant a species of raintree, similar to the Samanea Saman found at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. The number of trees planted will depend on the number of Martinis sold.

The Council hopes to plant about 500 trees around Dempsey Road and other areas.

The Gaia Party is one of the events under the MediaCorp Saving Gaia - or Earth – initiative, held in conjunction with a six-part documentary airing on Channel NewsAsia this month. - CNA/yy

Today Online 23 Jul 07
An environmental series that promises to shock
What: Saving Gaia
When: Mondays, 8.30pm
Where: Channel NewsAsia

A BANGLADESHI man paddles his dinghy, fear etched on his face; the village that has housed generations of his family has been flooded by waters almost 2m high. He cannot read and isn't aware of catch phrases like "save the earth" but he realises the floods, which seem to happen with alarming regularity, are not random incidents. Something isn't right in the world, he reckons. And by the look of things, it might just get worse.

This scenario is now more fact than fiction if the current climate changes are anything to go by. To get the point across that Earth's suffering is everyone's problem, Channel NewsAsia (CNA) has produced a six-part environmental series Saving Gaia, which premieres tonight.

For Woon Tai Ho, managing director of MediaCorp News, the series presents a no holds barred view of the world we live in.

"Saving Gaia is out to shock. Every episode begins with a doomsday scenario … designed to make the viewer sit up and pay attention," said Woon, 48.

Using an old name for the planet — Gaia means Mother Earth and is Greek in origin — as the title of the series underlines the seriousness of this large-scale ecological crisis.

"What we present on the show is not fiction," he said.

Ten months in the making, Saving Gaia will be narrated by actress Joan Chen. The series examine the adverse effects climate change has had on Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, China and India.

"In some ways, Saving Gaia is our take on An Inconvenient Truth," said Woon, referring to former United States Vice-President Al Gore's Oscar-winning documentary.

But far from jumping on the "green" bandwagon, Woon said Saving Gaia "is a significant milepost in CNA's history. We hope that people will be inspired to do something to save the world."

Channel NewsAsia 26 Jul 07
Saving Gaia Forum aims to raise environmental issues

SINGAPORE: The planet's environmental troubles have taken the spotlight in the media in recent weeks and MediaCorp's Channel NewsAsia is putting the issues in perspective with a new series called "Saving Gaia".

Besides airing the educational series, MediaCorp has also gone one step further by organising the Saving Gaia Breakfast Forum at the Shangri-la Hotel on Thursday to engage the business community in a meaningful dialogue on the benefits of going green.

In sharing the purpose of this eco-initiative, Woon Tai Ho, Managing Director of MediaCorp News, said: "This breakfast meeting is to focus on Gaia's biggest dilemma and that's business. We want to ask what it means to save Gaia for your company – from big decisions to personal ones... how do they hit the bottom-line? How do you turn every dollar green? The ideas that came out through the media were very good. We're going to use a lot of the ideas that were discussed and try to incorporate them into our programmes."

Due to rapid growth and consumerism, Singaporeans have, at one point, thrown away some 14,000 tonnes of garbage daily. The National Environment Agency (NEA) said only half of the waste gets recycled and serious environmental problems such as carbon dioxide emissions remain.

Chang Yeng Cheong, Deputy General Manager, VivoCity, said: "VivoCity, being the largest retail and lifestyle destination, has more than 3 million visitors a month, so the challenge has always been to give everyone a cool shopping environment. But we only switch on the air conditioning 45 minutes before the official opening hours."

NEA said it has made some progress with companies that are willing to try its energy audit scheme.

Lee Yuen Hee, CEO, National Environment Agency, said: "When we introduced the scheme, there were a lot of hesitation by companies on the costs they would have to incur by implementing these energy efficiency measures, but once they have completed the study, they realised that the energy savings they can achieve are very significant. Companies under the scheme have achieved annual savings of about S$15 million."

Through the forum, it is hoped that the message of convincing companies to be earth-friendly would come across loud and clear.

Howard Shaw, Executive Director, Singapore Environment Council, said: "Going green does not have to be a big investment, it does not have to be a great inconvenience to management. If the right steps are adopted from the start, the company will see returns eventually."

Experts said a company's green efforts may have to come from the top management, but in the long run, educating the young may be the key in changing old habits from an older generation. - CNA/so
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