It's Earth Day, 2008. What have you done in the past year to help reverse the environmental damage that we're inflicting on our home, planet earth? Have you reduced the number of times you order take away because of the number of bags and plastic containers they give you? Have you stopped taking long showers to try and save water? Have you starting bringing your own shopping bag to the supermarket? Have you stopped printing every single email or document but considered carefully if you really need a hard copy? Have you changed your incandescent bulbs for more energy-efficient compact florescent bulbs?

Well, if you haven't changed your bulbs, you're in luck. For those of you in Singapore, here's your chance to change all the incandescent light bulbs in your house for energy-saving bulbs. For free. That's right, you read correctly--for free.

It's the Great Light Bulb Exchange. Bring us one of your incandescent light bulbs (working or broken) and we’ll give you a new energy-saving compact florescent light (CFL). No strings attached. (Well, just tell us how much you love Yahoo! Answers.) If you bring two old light bulbs, we’ll give you two CFLs. No gimmicks, no sales pitch, nothing. It’s just our way of getting the community to go green. And hey, you’ll be saving money on your electricity bill too.

Here are the details:

Venue: Newton Hawker Center Public Carpark
Date: 22nd April 2008
Time: 5pm

The Yahoo! crew will be there for one hour to exchange bulbs with you. Plus, the first 1,000 folks will also get some Yahoo! goodies. For more information, see the Green Movement 2008 group on Flickr.

So make green your favourite colour and come get your new CFLs.

Looking forward to seeing you,

Amos

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Good Friday and Easter are here again. Christians around the world are marking their holiest days. As most people know, Good Friday is the day when Jesus Christ, God's only son, laid down his life and was killed on the cross. According to the Bible, he did this to take the punishment that man rightfully deserves for his sins. And Easter, the Sunday right after Good Friday, was the day when Jesus came back from the dead. He did this to show his power over death.

That seems straightforward enough but naturally, a few questions abound. Why is that Friday called good when something so awful happened? The Answers community has some thoughts on that. Paladin notes that it was originally called "Gottes Freitag" or God's Friday. And this eventually became Good Friday in English. shinnsei also notes that in Christian traditions like Eastern Orthodoxy, it's known as Holy Friday.

Nevertheless, Good is still an appropriate term to label that Friday because as The Darkness Returns points out, the good represents the good gift of salvation brought forth by the martyrdom of Jesus.

Okay then, what about Easter? Where did that name come from? Skytide explains that early Christian celebrations of Christ's resurrection coincided with a pagan festival of the Godess Eostre and the name and some of the traditions were absorbed into Christian celebrations. In addition, Sweet n Sour explains that the traditions of the Easter bunny and eggs have its originsin German traditions.

Well, I certainly know better now how all these 'extras' got attached to the celebration of Christ's death and resurrection. Just wanted to wish all Christians out there a meaningful time of reflection and worship as you celebrate Good Friday and Easter.

Cheers,

Amos

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(Photo by babasteve)

The Malaysian General Elections are upon us. Polling Day is 8 March there is much discussion off- and online. Here on Answers, we've seen an increase in the knowledge and opinion exchange about the candidates, the election process and the issues. We want to foster a healthy exchange of views so please ask away. We all know we can get hot under the collar when we talk about issues close to our hearts but please try to choose your tone carefully. Varied opinions are great, being rude isn't.

Here are some of the great questions and answers we've spotted:

• If Barang Naik win this coming election do you think they will make Malaysia more Islamic?
• Is registering to vote based on the address of my IC?
• Why is the campaigning period so short?
• What will be the defining issues that shape this election?
• How do candidates qualify to take part in the election?
• How will the age of the candidate affect the voting?
• Will this election unite the people or do the opposite?
• What can minority parties do to improve their chances of winning?

Keep those questions coming. The community is waiting to share their thoughts and opinions with you. And those of you who are eligible to vote, please vote!

You can also keep up with the latest news on the elections on our special coverage of the elections on Yahoo! Malaysia News.

Keeping a pulse on the elections,

Amos

Back to Yahoo! Answers in Malaysia | Singapore | Philippines