PlanetArk 20 Dec 07;
HONG KONG - Glittering neon santas and rainbows of flashy lights are the norm for glitzy Hong Kong in December.
But this year the city's shimmering, shopper-friendly winter wonderland is turning heads for all the wrong reasons. Environmental activists and some shoppers say the lights are blocking out the night sky and are gobbling up lots of electricity.
"I think it's a waste of energy. It's really bad. I don't think it's necessary," said shopper Jackie Chow, as he strolled through the crowded Causeway Bay shopping district.
The decorations are considered part of Hong Kong's Christmas glamour. Many of the city's waterfront skyscrapers are lit up for the festive season and for the Chinese New Year holiday that follows.
At street level, retailers hope neon billboards and blinking decorations will lure shoppers to their stores.
But to some experts, all that light is pollution.
"Instead of lights that we are able to use, for security reasons, for various commercial reasons, actually these are energy lost," said Jason Pun, an Assistant Professor of Physics at Hong Kong University.
"(They) just become the haze background, the light background that we call light pollution," he said.
Astronomers in particular are concerned about the effect of light pollution, claiming it is becoming near-impossible to see the night sky due to the cloud of haze caused by blinking lights.
Pun is leading a government-sponsored study measuring the brightness of the night sky in urban areas compared to quieter areas on the edge of the city.
Early results show the night sky is 30 times brighter in urban areas.
"There's a whole generation of young children who grow up without actually being able to see the night sky because when they turn their heads up to the sky all they see is just regular gray haze," said Pun.
"They don't see any of the stars and planets."
Retailers, content with the strong local economy and surge of mainland Chinese tourists who dash across the border to Hong Kong for shopping and dining tours, have not made any noises about dimming the lights.
And the government, which has long been enamoured by the spectacular displays lighting up the city's famous harbour, is pushing ahead with a spectacular multimedia show, "A Symphony of Lights", to be projected on more than 40 buildings on New Year's Eve.
But for shoppers who jostle under their glare, lights that are too bright are fast becoming another seasonal grumble, along with crowds and congestion.
"For just a couple of weeks I think its okay," said shopper Jeff Yu.
"But if it's for a long time like the other neon lights, it's not good". (Writing by Tara Joseph, editing by Gillian Murdoch and David Fogarty)
