By Shin Chul-ho
A TV commercial took me by surprise.
Flocks of penguins are basking on ice covered with thick snow. All of a sudden a deafening roar drives them away in all directions.
A big ship smashes into the ice driving a lot of terrified penguins screaming and tottering away.
A man's voice says with confidence and solemnity, ``While everyone goes around frozen seas, we build waterways. Rising ceaselessly to the challenge, produces the world’s best.’’ Another man's voice follows in clear English. ``The World Best, STX.’’
Only after searching for STX on the Internet did I find that STX is a Korean shipbuilder that was established in Busan in January 1962 and has been listed on the Korea stock market since 2003.
The advertisement recently placed on TV by STX can have an extremely negative effect on environmental protection. The ad implies that we can brutally destroy the environment to satisfy our economic needs.
Global warming mainly caused by the use of fossil fuel has been tagged as the main culprit that could bring about unimaginable destruction to this planet.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has reportedly warned us of the shocking prospect of disasters due to global warming.
Let me list three of them: by 2020, amphibians could completely die out; by 2050, the average temperature could rise by 1.5 to 2.5 degrees Celsius and 20-30 percent of all species will become extinct; by 2080, the average temperature will rise by more than 3 degrees Celsius and most species will perish except man.
The ice of the Arctic and the Antarctic is disappearing at the fastest speed humans have ever experienced. Perhaps we won't be able to see penguins in the near future. In this context I am afraid that the TV commercial by STX will do more harm than good.
The market economy, economic growth, creating jobs, increasing per-capita income, advanced technology and so on are all my favorite phrases, because I am a capitalist.
But it is high time that firms, small or big, combine their economic desire with an environmental consciousness. We can still curb global warming depending on our efforts.
We will be doing the devils work if we pass on a contaminated globe to our heirs. I hope that STX continues to prosper, but as an environment-friendly corporation.
heemy123@hanmail.net
The writer teaches English at an elementary school in Seoul.