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  Today Online 27 Jul 07
What a waste, this balloon event
Letter from Ng Wan Pei

Last weekend, I read of how a secondary school created the record for the world's longest chain of balloon-hat wearers (picture). My sister studies at one of the schools that took part in the event.

I am sure it was a happy occasion for everyone involved. They set a new world record and in the process had fun.

But hang on, wasn't the Live Earth concert recently held to help convey the message that our planet is facing the threat of global warming?

Yes, I do believe that schools are doing something about this problem — there are more talks on environmental issues, more recycling bins in the school and teachers are uploading their notes online instead of printing them out.

However, I feel that schools could do more because they contradict what they teach at times.

Think about all the resources the schools who set a new record for balloon-hat wearers wasted. Thousands of balloons would have been thrown away after the record was set.

In my junior college, there are many recycling bins in the canteen but I still see students throwing their bottled drinks into the dustbins.

I feel that schools should cut down on things that are unnecessary. For example, do students really need an air-conditioned hall to study better or just to satisfy their craving for creature comforts?

My school also has an air-conditioned hall, and sometimes my friends and I find it is too cold to concentrate when we sit for our examinations there. No matter how much other students insist that air-conditioning is necessary, I doubt they would not be able to concentrate on their studies without it.

I hope schools can do more to educate their students on the severity of global warming and practice what they preach.
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