Students promote patriotism in train party

KUALA LUMPUR: A group of university students took it upon themselves to spread some National Day cheer throughout the city’s LRT lines.

The Seeding MY Hope project kicked off with a train party yesterday afternoon when the 40-strong group “stormed” LRT coaches.

With singer-actress Chelsia Ng performing Rasa Sayang on her ukulele, the group prompted several spontaneous bouts of singalongs from commuters as they moved along the carriages while handing out tiny Jalur Gemilang, helium balloons, badges and posters.

One of the project organisers, Suemitraa Thiagarajan, 25, said: “You don’t see many of these fun, guerilla-style events in Malaysia –it’s a good way of bringing the Merdeka spirit to the people.”

The group also handed out small packets of seeds to be planted at home, with another project organiser Niki Cheong saying the gesture was aimed at “reconnecting people with our tanah air (homeland)”.

Writer and educator Cheong has worked on various social campaigns including 50X50 My Malaysia and LimaPuluhTujuh.

However, the bulk of the Seeding MY Hope project is run by eight of his students from KDU University College, where Cheong is a lecturer.

Hafiz Norizan, Sara-Jane Har, Brandon John Lipaul, Nicole Pang, Belinda Soh, Suemitraa, Dylan Tan and Zakiy Rahim were the students singled out by Cheong as he felt they had “strong feelings about Malay­sia”.

“I could see a strong spirit of patriotism from their essays, which was why I picked them to be the faces of this project,” he said.

“They came out with the videos and logos you see on www.seedingMYhope.com, and I’m only here as a mentor,” said Cheong.

The train party was just one part of the 17-day-long project, where Malaysians can take part by posting on social media what they hope to see in the country under the #seedingMYhope hashtag.

As part of the project, the organisers aim to collect soil from the 13 states of Malaysia, with the aim of exhibiting them at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur for the finale on Sept 16.

Partners of the project include MyTeksi Sdn Bhd, aforadio, Pavilion, and kakiseni.

“We wanted to be a part of this project to bring back some love and positivity to the nation,” said Kuo Lumpur, senior regional marketing executive for MyTeksi.

On her part, Ng was just happy to be part of the action.

“This is a great effort. Everyone needs a little positive cheer these days, and I’m glad to be able to do my part.”