Iskandar Malaysia Social Hero Award’s winner, Johor Bahru Happy Joy Club, celebrated its 2266th day of bringing laughter online under the theme “2266 Days of Joy Connection”.
What began as a fun, group video chat on WhatsApp on 17th March 2020, just a week after Malaysia imposed a Movement Control Order (MCO) to curb the COVID-19 spread, sparked a movement within the club’s members by doing a group video chat on Messenger on 18th March 2020.
The world eased its restrictions, yet the joy of sharing laughter over the internet has snowballed into something even bigger for JBHJC, where they hold daily video meetups to continue expanding and extending joy.
Fast forward to Saturday, 30th May 2026; 30 members came together to celebrate their accumulated 2266 days of sharing the joy of connections and companionship over the years. Laughter yoga founder Dr Madan Kataria also joined in the event, which was also livestreamed on the club’s Facebook page.
“I’d like to thank the COVID-19 virus for teaching us new ways to laugh and live online each day. Although the pandemic has passed, it has left a valuable legacy: no matter what happens, we must laugh!”
“That’s the beauty of online laughter yoga classes,” he said, referring to the silver lining to the terrible pandemic.
He also mentioned that during the pandemic, people learned how to teach, guide, and train online, allowing them to spread laughter yoga more effectively.
He also thanked the Joyful Club of Johor Bahru family for demonstrating how teamwork can turn dreams into reality and setting a good example for the rest of the world.
He then led everyone through a series of laughter exercises commonly used during a pandemic, including laughing while maintaining social distance, laughing without shaking hands, laughing while washing hands, and laughing while using hand sanitiser.
Guests from Spain, India, Germany, and the United States shared their own motivational messages and led everyone in laughter exercises.
JBHJC’s President, Siew Mei, also known as Aunty Boleh, described how the event not only celebrated 2266 days of laughter but also the camaraderie, unity, strong resilience and the healing power of happiness among members, and hopes that these types of celebrations will continue to bring everyone joy, health, and endless laughter, as well as smile and spread happiness.
