JOHOR BARU: A group of friends recently got together during their semester break to organise a three-day event called “One Sec” at the Johor Baru City Square here.
Diamond Tai, 21, one of the organisers, said in light of the tragedies happening in the country and the world, the group of friends wanted to encourage people to choose happiness over sadness.
As of noon on Friday, 20 shoppers responded to the programme that was only launched one and a half hour earlier.
“We approached shoppers and asked them if they were happy or unhappy?
“If happy, we wanted them to pen their message of hope on a postcard. The postcards are then put into a box.
“If a shopper were to say he is unhappy with his life, we will ask him to pick a postcard from the box and read the message written on it.
“We are doing this to encourage people to count their blessings, and to choose happiness over despair,” said Tai.
It was found that of the 20 who responded, there were more happy people than sad ones as only five people said they were unhappy.
Tai’s friend, Lim Phing Xin, 21, who is studying in Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, said the group comprises five friends who have known each other since secondary school.
“In the wake of tragedies such as the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines MH370 in March and the shooting down of MH17 last month and other depressing events happening around the globe, we wanted to do something that will encourage people to spare a second of their time to think about their lives.
“We want them to think of their happiness,” said Lim, adding that they were expecting about 400 shoppers to participate in the programme.