Anthea Wong, 16, Hong Kong International School The earth is in jeopardy and the situation is becoming worse. We hear this all the time, but it seems we are not prepared to do much about it. I think we need to do everything we can, even if it means sacrificing the radiance of Hong Kong during Christmas. It is time to pull the plug on buildings' festive lights. In Hong Kong, lights are installed on buildings as early as late November, and they are taken down only after the Lunar New Year. In other words, the lights are there not just for several days or a week. They remain on display for a month or more. This is a waste of energy. The government and environmentalists promote energy conservation - switching off lights and turning off or turning down air-conditioning in households, offices and public places. So decorating Hong Kong's skyscrapers with festive lights is clearly a violation of our efforts to be a greener city. Christmas is not only about giving and receiving gifts, but it is also not just about festive lights either. Christmas is a time of joy. While some might argue that turning off the lights will make it less joyful, it is the spirit of Christmas that really matters. If we truly appreciate Christmas, we should not care about how the skyline looks. Christmas lights are only decorations after all. Ronald Ling Pak-ki, 19, University of Hong Kong There is an urgent need to tackle climate change if we want the earth to remain a place where we can live. Cutting back on energy consumption is one way of doing that. But, even though the festive lights on buildings consume a lot of electricity, I don't think it is a waste, and switching them off is unnecessary. If everybody ignored them, I think a good case could be made for switching them off. But most people enjoy the lights, and for families they are celebrations of Christmas that can be appreciated together. Tourists enjoy them too - they make the Pearl of the Orient an even more attractive place to visit. I can't see tourists who come to Hong Kong for a holiday being very impressed if all the lights in Victoria Harbour were turned off and our most famous night view was shrouded in darkness. I think simply switching the festive lights off for an hour every now and again should be enough to remind the public about the need to save energy. This would be more constructive than turning our city into a dark and boring place. Instead of switching off the festive lights, the government should devote more resources to educating people about saving energy in their daily lives. It could also implement a comprehensive policy on energy usage, and it should encourage enterprises to launch energy-saving measures. Meanwhile, it should help industries meet green standards. Switching off Hong Kong's festive lights is not the answer to making the city a greener place to live. The disadvantages outweigh the advantages.
