The Johor Bahru Happy and Joyous Club organised and celebrated the 15th JB – World Laughter Day 2023 on the mobile way on 7 May.
The goals of this year’s Johor Bahru event were to promote good health, joy and global peace via laughter, to raise awareness of the beneficial effects of laughter to the community and to have outdoor camaraderie among members and the community.
44 members boarded a bus bound for the Senior Citizens Association Johor Bahru’s annual Walk for Health, which drew close to 200 participants. The second stop was at Pelangi Leisure Mall, where another 150 people arrived and the final stop was at Plaza Pelangi, where a similar number of people arrived.
Andrew Chen Kah Eng, Stulang State Assemblyman relayed his message to the club for their 15th World Laughter Day event in Johor Bahru via Organising Chair, Fung Lee Jean at Plaza Pelangi.
“It is indeed an astonishing 15 years in this annual celebration which is celebrated throughout the whole world. Johor Bahru has become the hub for Laughter Yoga activities with your club’s collaboration with both Non-Governmental and Governmental Organisations,” said Andrew, adding that promoting good health, joy and world peace through laughter is meaningful and much needed in our communities.
“We all need laughter at work and in our lives, and laughter is such a profound tool for physical, physiological, psychological and mental benefits.”
“Johor Bahru Happy and Joyous Club is the most active group for laughter compared to all the laughter groups in other parts of Malaysia. It is amazing to note that your club has members from all walks of life and can laugh, organise community events and work together harmoniously too. You are truly an inspirational club,” he said.
Among the fun activities held was the search for the Laughter King and Queen and the Senior Citizens Association Johor Bahru Centre’s crowned Zainen Rahman, 63 as the Laughter King and Choo Soh Kim, 60 both from Johor Bahru.
Meanwhile, Pelangi Leisure Mall crowned two brothers sharing the Laughter King title – Tan Wei Hao, 7 and Tan Wei Bin, 5, from Johor Bahru accompanied by their mother, Chui Sau Ying originally from China, while the Laughter Queen was Karsem, 51 from Indonesia.
At Plaza Pelangi, Umer, 26 from Pakistan was crowned as the Laughter King and Laughter Queen was awarded to Rachel Ng, 60 from Johor Bahru.
300 free sponsored t-shirts, 900 Souvenir programme booklets, laughter masks and bookmarks were also distributed at the free event.
World Laughter Day was initiated in 1998 by Dr Madan Kataria, the founder of worldwide Laughter Clubs. In his message to the global laughter yoga practitioners, he said laughter is needed more than ever now with doom and gloom surrounding the world.
“Every first Sunday of May, we celebrate World Laughter Day. This is a special day designated to build global awareness of health, happiness and world peace through the daily practice of Laughter Yoga,” he said.
“Laughter yoga is a powerful technique which can keep your spirits high in these challenging times. Because it is not a comedy, this is an exercise programme, and you can laugh even when you don’t feel llke laughing! Our slogan is; “We don’t laugh because we are happy; we are happy because we laugh”, he added, quoting William James.
“10 to 15-minutes of laughter yoga exercises can reduce stress makes your immune system stronger and keeps your mind positive. Laughter and breathing exercises can strengthen your immune system and oxygenate your lungs to prevent the infection,” Dr Madan Kataria concluded his statement.
Johor Bahru Happy and Joyous Club is hosting 30 mins Daily Zoom Laughter from Monday to Sunday. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up in garden parks or join zoom laughter to get daily dose of laughter.
“Today we are one of the 120 countries in the world celebrating World Laughter Day. We are indeed very thankful to Dr Madan Kataria and Madhuri Kataria, Founder & Co-Founder of Laughter Yoga Club Movement,” said Koh Mui Cheng, President of the Johor Bahru Happy and Joyous Club.
