Malaysia’s Largest Gangnam Flash Mob took place at the Lost World of Tambun recently and broke the Malaysian Book of records, with an attendance of 2303 participants. This was more than double the previous record set at 1100.
On January 26, Lost World of Tambun was swarming with people. Astro, Hitz FM, My FM and ERA Cruisers were seen at the entrance. People from all ages lined up at booths to register for the Flash Mob as early as 8am, attempting to make it to the Malaysian Book of Records as the largest flash mob in our nation’s history.
This flash mob was organised by Astro’s customer loyalty programme, Astro Circle and Sunway’s Lost World of Tambun. Also present were radio cruisers Hitz FM, My FM and ERA FM along with Astro radio announcers, Suresh from Raaga FM and Aryton from Mix FM. Astro artistes included Gheeta, Shiva, Dharshaini, Shantesh, Ratna Gowri, Iris and two of the top three finalists of 2012 Battleground (School Brotherz and Sweatz) also joined to show their support to their fans who were taking part in the flash mob dance.
Social media was abuzz with the planned event and tutorials of the mob dance were loaded in advance onto YouTube for everyone to practise for about a month. Attendees were required to pay a standard entrance fee for access into Lost World of Tambun while Astro Circle members were given a 30% discount. Everyone got to enjoy the seven attractions at Lost World of Tambun after the event.
At about 9.30am, dancers were seen entering the park. Since attendees did not get a chance to practise and rehearse together beforehand, professional dancers went on stage and rehearsed with everyone before the real flash mob began.
As I walked around the area, there were a few groups of people who were wearing the same attire. As I approached them and interviewed them, I found out that they were from Penang and were asked to join this event.
Parazee, the group from Georgetown, and was a YouTube hit for the parody of Gangnam Style, had some short performances before the flash mob. There was also a group of Jazz Aerobics and Line Dancers from CBE and JNS Penang, who had taken a bus down all the way to Ipoh at 5am in the morning just to be part of it. Being more mature than the rest of the mob, they were nevertheless very sporting, had young spirits and were all dressed in Superman T-shirts. There was also a group that had a mixture of both kids and adults. The youngest girl was 5 years old together with her mother who was the leader of the dance group, 2 Five Step Dance Academy, Bukit Mertajam. They too also came early by bus just to be part of this.
The flash mob started at about 12.30pm after some game quizzes and performances. Astro Battleground finalists led the crowd by taking over the stage. They started with “Chicken Dance”, followed by “Party Rock Anthem” and lastly, the famous “Gangnam Style”. Everyone joined in and had a lot of fun.
CBE and JNS Penang said that although it was a very hot day dancing right under the afternoon sun, they had fun and it was a good experience. Astro Battleground finalists Ronald and Dylan from School Brotherz, not being informed about the flash mob in advance, commented that it was very cool and glad they had the chance to be a part of the event that would be included into the Malaysian Book of Records. They were only expecting a normal performance for the public. Finalists Vivien, Angel and Wendy from Sweatz added that they were happy to see such a big crowd dancing together with total strangers, young and old spontaneously. They were happy to see the commitment of the attendees and it was a very big eye opener for them. The sight of parents dancing with their children is not something one would see every day. Although the dance steps were very simple, everyone blended in well and most importantly, they looked happy.
The event went successfully and ended at about 1pm. As the flash mob ended, some stayed back to enjoy the park while others headed home. Many interviewed, expressed the hope to see more of these events coming up in Ipoh in the future.
Susan Ho