Residents of KL apartment put on nightly light show for community

Residents in an apartment block in Kuala Lumpur are making up their own nightly public light shows to entertain themselves during this Covid-19 lockdown in Malaysia.

All over the world, people are finding ways to stand in solidarity with each other during nationwide lockdowns and curfews due to the fast-escalating Covid-19 situation.

At Seasons Garden Residences in Kuala Lumpur last night (March 23), the residents took part in a spontaneous community event of sorts – a little light show of their own.

Sean Michael Wilson, a comic book writer from Scotland who is currently based in Japan, alerted us to this when a friend forwarded him a recording of the event.

“An interesting, positive and rather cute response to coronavirus in Malaysia...In order to express both frustration and a desire to positively communicate with others, people in this condo building yesterday started this 'building light flash' event, ” he posted on Facebook (facebook.com/sean.m.wilson.7).

“It shows the basic desire of people to connect to others and have a sense of community, especially in difficult times. I shared it because I thought people in Malaysia would want to see something pleasant in the difficult time of coronavirus, something that shows how people can still connect in a positive way. I think that’s important, ” he tells StarLifestyle.

Challenging times call for measures that many of us are unaccustomed to.

We have just hit the one-week mark of Malaysia’s movement control order which started March 18, and many people have commented that they are going stir-crazy at home.

“This (light show) is a way to express our connection to other people and of a sense of community in difficult times. Often people have a negative view about human nature, saying that we are greedy and selfish. But in times of disaster we often see a desire to cooperate and be considerate to others, ” says Wilson.

Resident Gan Pei Yong comments that this display of lights certainly cheered some people up.

“It all started when the people in the condominium next to us started flashing their torchlights. It went on at my condominium for less than half an hour and it is going to happen again tonight. A little music and clamouring won’t hurt. I think it is human nature to want to do fun things together, even when going through hard times, ” she says.

In this corner of the neighbourhood, their light will continue shining bright tonight – and for many nights to come.