KUALA LUMPUR: One 16-year-old would choose to be a peacock if he could be an animal, another a fox.

The two secondary school students were among 80 who learnt about the effects of global climate change.

This was of question they were asked during the Shell-NSTP Global Climate Change writing workshop on Saturday. It was one of a series of 10 workshops that will involve 800 secondary school students from 200 schools in 10 states.

Participants will submit articles, pictures and posters on global warming to be published in the New Straits Times and Berita Harian on World Environment Day on June 5.

Fourth Former Dahlan Daim of Victoria Institution here said: "If I were an animal, I would like to be a peacock.
"It is a symbol of pride, and its elegance, beauty and confidence triumph over other animals. I want to colour the world with my beautiful presence."

Dahlan's schoolmate, Isaac George, said he would want to be a fox.

"If I were a fox, I would be cunning. I would use my power of manipulation to make people aware of global issues."

The participants were shown excerpts from An Inconvenient Truth, the Academy Award-winning documentary about global warming presented by former United States vice-president Al Gore.

Participants were asked to highlight the global environmental issues raised in the movie that had the most impact on them.

Many were affected by the fact that polar bears were losing their habitat because of the melting of polar ice caps brought about by global warming.

Another worry was the emergence of new diseases such as avian flu and SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome).