BY SHARMILA NAIR
IT IS not everyday that we get to see people wearing party hats in LRT trains and singing Happy Birthday to their hearts’ content while disembarking the train. But last Saturday, that was exactly what unsuspecting train commuters at the KLCC station witnessed – much to their amazement and for some, confusion.
They must have been amazed because this group of young people were not the least embarrassed about singing aloud in public. Besides, there was no birthday cake or any sign of celebration. To those not in the loop, the scenario may have looked like a spontaneous or random act – exactly what those in the loop wanted them to think. Mission accomplished ... well, almost.
Welcome to project KLX ... or its post-mortem, more precisely.
It all started when law graduate Zain H.D. woke up one day, had an inspiration and decided that he wanted to have fun (not necessarily in that order).
One of the final tasks the Random Agents had to perform – pretending to shoot each other at the KLCC Park! KLX was inspired by something called the “MP3Experiment”, where throngs of people listened to a pre-recorded message on their MP3 players and acted out the instructions given. That event took place in New York, and Zain wanted to try the experiment here.
In his website RandomAlphabets.com, Zain stated: “They called it the MP3Experiment. We’re calling it KLX and making ours better. Mainly because we’ve studied their MP3Experiments and found ways to improvise.”
Zain’s inspiration was from Improv Everywhere, a group based in the US that causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places, all in the name of good, clean fun – the type of fun that Zain wishes everybody could be a part of.
“This is a good way for everyone – from expatriates to refugees – to get together and do something,” said Zain, 24, who talked at length about his experiments, and yet remained resolutely tight-lipped about himself.
From KL Sentral, the RAs boarded the train towards KLCC – a trick in itself as the RAs were told to buy tickets for a journey towards Kelana Jaya.
“I was so scared that I wouldn’t be allowed entrance into KLCC because my ticket was for Kelana Jaya,” said Nadia.
Fortunately, the LRT tickets’ validity is based on the amount paid and not the station, so she really didn’t have anything to worry about.
Athirah Naim (left) is a big fan of the projects organised by Random Acts, which is the brainchild of Zain H.D. While onboard, the RAs were given party hats and blowers with a printed out instruction attached. They were required to put on the party gears and shout “Happy Birthday!” before disembarking the train at the KLCC station.
The reactions
According to Zain, there were three different reactions to that particular instruction.
“One group walked out and sang the whole Happy Birthday song; another walked out, stood by the door and then only said ‘Happy Birthday’ loudly and the rest stayed in the train after the door opened and said ‘Happy Birthday’ softly to the ground.”
Zain was present throughout the event, but he stayed hidden in the background and saw that everything went according to plan ... which, obviously didn’t at certain points.
“There were definitely glitches. It definitely didn’t turn out the way we wanted it or expected it to be. But the brilliant part was, it turned out unexpectedly hilarious, anyway. For example, the Happy Birthday action at KLCC LRT platform,” Zain said.
He is nonetheless happy that KLX turned out the way it did.
“I feel relieved that KLX is over. It’s been in my head since mi-April. KLX will probably be the most ‘sophisticated’ project RandomActs will ever do,” he said, adding that all the effort put into the project had paid off.
Before the event, Zain’s emotions fluctuated between nervousness and excitement – his mind trying to figure out how to execute it in a way that will still ensure a fantastic time for all involved.
“During KLX, I think I was numb. So, I just left the group and waited at KLCC, watching them come one by one instead of following a particular group,” he said.
The RAs didn’t walk through Suria KLCC doing nothing. They were prompted by the agents to perform certain acts when they hit certain stores.
As the yellow team turned the corner near the centre court, their agent whispered in their ears for them to carry out the instruction, written on the piece of paper they earlier received on the train.
“It was weird doing the ‘zombie’ walk in front of so many people. They looked at me funnily but I asked for this. So all I could do was to keep my head high and walk like the undead,” said 22-year-old Hammond Goh, a Pharmacy student.
The red, blue and yellow gang finally reunited at the KLCC Park where they had to perform the two final tasks – pretend to shoot each other while shouting “Bang! Bang!” and then drop to the floor like dead flies – which they all did like pros.
”My favourite part of the day was probably the biggest glitch itself. The designated clock at KL Sentral was peculiarly off, and no one knew of a Plan B. That got the ‘improv’ out of us because we had to think of one on the spot. We just told everyone it’s time to play their MP3.
“Most of all, I loved the reaction we got from people who didn’t know what was going on. What I liked about it was that it put a smile on the faces of strangers. Simple as that. As clueless as they were, I think one way or the other, it made their day at least a little more eventful,” said Zain.
> The next project Zain has in line is the Read while Waiting Project (RWP). This project seeks to promote reading among people. If they know that they’re going somewhere where waiting will be involved, they should bring with them any form of literature to read.
