[Argurnenoni]

SEPANG - It was just any other day at KL International Airport until a policeman yelled at a man with a guitar, who tried to enter the arrival area without permission.

Onlookers thought that a commotion was about to happen but were stunned a few seconds later when they realised that a flash mob was taking place at the arrival hall. The man started strumming his guitar.

The 10-minute flash mob yesterday, themed Missing You, was choreographed by renowned local dance professional Pat Ibrahim, who has worked on other famous productions like Puteri Gunung Ledang the Musical and P. Ramlee the Musical.

It involved 200 participants made up of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) staff, their family and friends and the airlines' partner companies.

The event started with MAS' theme song We Fly followed by Janet Jackson's Miss You Much, sang by a female singer who was interjected by Rahim Maarof's Istana Menanti.

This was followed by a dance performance to the Hindi song Aankhen Khuli besides a scene where "girlfriends" greet their "boyfriends".

A group of Chinese tourists was also seen performing Ritchie Ren's Lang Hua Yi Duo Duo before the entire flash mob came to a conclusion with five MAS cabin crew members jiving their way to the songs Rindu and Balik Kampung.

The flash mob totally caught French tourist Adrien Dorleac off-guard as he thought a group of Malaysians were having a party at the arrival hall.

"I also thought this is how Malaysians welcome their visitors. It is definitely a pleasant surprise to me and made me want to visit this country again," said the 24-year-old banker, who recorded the event with his camera.

Project leader Syed Md Annuar said the idea to perform the flash mob was brainstormed by the MAS advertising and promotion team and their advertising agency.

He said a flash mob like this would also help the airlines gain a strong online presence on social media, adding that it would be uploaded onto YouTube and MAS' Facebook page and Twitter account.