I wish to congratulate the organisers for the successful test on Saturday night of the lighting system for the inaugural SingTel Singapore Grand Prix later this year.
But I also wish to highlight the fact that the tests were conducted at about the same time Earth Hour was held at 8pm the same night.
Singapore was also taking part in the first annual global Earth Hour, the objective of which was to get as many people worldwide as possible to switch their lights off for an hour.
Those involved — including the Ministry of Trade and Industry — should have been more sensitive to efforts to create awareness about our environment.
F1 light-up makes mockery of Earth Hour
Letter from Kelvin Tan Kheng Liang, Straits Times Forum 1 Apr 08;
ON SATURDAY, The Straits Times carried a report, 'Earth gets 60 minutes' rest', to introduce the first global Earth Hour and urge Singaporeans to turn off their lights for an hour that night as a show of support. The next day, The Sunday Times reported that participation in Earth Hour by corporations here saved enough energy to power a four-room flat for a year. This is a commendable achievement.
However, the same Sunday report, 'Earth Hour gets lukewarm response', lamented that not many people here were receptive to the lights-out idea. This apathy is not surprising when local efforts were largely relegated to individuals, grassroots organisations and businesses. Although the Earth Hour website listed Singapore as a supporting city, there was no effort to promote it by any government agency.
It was also unfortunate that the organisers of the Singapore Formula One night race chose to demonstrate their lighting system 30 minutes before the start of Earth Hour. This irony is further illuminated by the photo accompanying The Sunday Times story, 'Lights up, thumbs up', which shows the F1 lighting system demo against the backdrop of a darkened Raffles City, which had turned off its fa�ade lighting to support Earth Hour. The F1 event was attended by a senior minister of state, who reportedly gave it the thumbs-up, and tourism officials.
Furthermore, is it really necessary for the F1 lights to be switched on daily from 7pm to midnight for a week simply for public viewing? I wonder how much of the 6,800kWh saved by local Earth Hour efforts will be used to power this publicity stunt.
Lights up, thumbs up
Bright debut for Singapore F1 race's illumination system
Leonard Lim, Straits Times 30 Mar 08;
THE leading lights for the inaugural SingTel Singapore Grand Prix were given the thumbs-up by newly-promoted Senior Minister of State (Trade and Industry) S. Iswaran yesterday evening.No, not star drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton, but the lighting system for what is set to be Formula One's first night race.
In a demonstration just after nightfall - about 7.30pm - witnessed by Mr Iswaran and tourism officials, lighting consultant Valerio Maioli switched on 16 projectors on a 64m stretch that had been set up on St Andrew's Road.
And the contrast with the surrounding streets was clear, with some guests commenting that it felt almost like day.
Standing under the bright lights, Mr Iswaran said they looked 'quite promising'.
While Singapore's streetlamps shine at about 100 lux, the F1 lighting system shines at about 3,000 lux.
Lux is a unit for illuminance, and measures the intensity of light.
The lights for a football game at the National Stadium are about 650 lux, while sunlight on an average day is about 50,000 lux.
Turning to the safety aspect of these lights, Mr Iswaran assured that this was the highest priority for everyone involved in the Sept 28 event.
Trials in Europe have gone well, with drivers not expected to be affected much even if it rains.
As Maioli explained: 'The light beams come in at angles instead of vertically, so that the reflection doesn't get into the drivers' eyes, even if there are puddles during a downpour.'
The lighting system consists of 1,500 light projectors placed 4m apart and powered by 12 twin-powered generators.
They will be fitted along a temporary aluminium truss around the 5.067km Marina Bay street circuit.
The truss, 10m above ground level and supported by vertical steel pylons 32m apart, will be only on the right side of the track.
Installation will be carried out in stages from May and the track should be ready by early September.
The system is believed to cost about 5 million euros (S$10.9 million).
Also unveiled yesterday was the DigiFlag system, which will replace the usual flag marshals at day-time races.
Electronic signboards along the circuit can be programmed to display various colours such as green, red and yellow to communicate to drivers messages such as 'danger' or 'come into pits'.
In a night race, the lights are more visible than flags. But in the event of a power failure, flag marshals will be on standby to take over.
The lights will remain along St Andrew's Road till April 6 for members of the public to view, and will be switched on from 7pm till midnight daily.
Said Mr Iswaran: 'It seems pretty bright to me ... under these conditions, I don't think visibility will be a problem for the drivers.'
Then he quipped: 'Although I've never driven a car at 300 kilometres per hour.'
Singapore conducts live demonstration of lighting for F1 raceChannel NewsAsia 30 Mar 08;
SINGAPORE : Singapore has tested a small section of the lights that will be used for the country's first ever Formula One race in September.
On Saturday evening, a part of St Andrew's Road was lit up to simulate daylight.
It took about 8 to 10 minutes for the lights - which measure about 3000 Lux - to charge up.
Once fully fired-up, it was as bright as daylight, or four times the brightness of the National Stadium.
Two trusses measuring 32 metres each were used to hang 16 lights or lighting projectors.
The lights were installed four metres apart at a height of 10 metres.
S Iswaran, Minister of State, Trade and Industry, said: "This lighting part is the crucial part of the process as you can imagine. We want to make sure that the lighting system is done in a manner that is safe for the drivers and the spectators and at the same time, one that enhances the experience for everyone."
The man behind the whole set-up is lighting expert Valerio Maiolli.
He gave the assurance that driving at high speeds under these lights is safe, even if it were to rain heavily.
Mr Maiolli said: "If you are on the track like the driver, you don't see the rain, if you are on the grandstand you see the rain."
A total of 1,500 lighting projectors will be used for the five kilometre Singapore circuit.
The lights will be powered by 12 twin-power generators.
Another first was also revealed - in the place of regular flags, electronic flags flashed onto an LED panel, will make its debut for the world's first F1 night race.
Installation of the lights will be carried out in phases starting end-May, and is expected to be completed by the first week of September.
The public can view the test lights from Sunday till 6th of April.
These will be on from 7pm till midnight. - CNA/ch