A police musical band set social media alight with a video of them singing the Cantopop hit number “Hai Kuo Tian Kong”, popularised by the Hong Kong rock group Beyond.

Dressed in police uniforms, the all-Malay band, simply called NEPD (North East Police Department) Band, sang the lyrics in flawless Cantonese.

The band played the music live on their instruments, and from what was seen on the video, they bewildered shoppers, with many of them singing along and then giving the band a standing ovation at the end.

The five-minute, 40-second video was recorded on Labour Day in Gurney Plaza, a popular shopping complex in George Town, Penang, Malaysia.

The band performed the opening act of the “Be Smart, Stay Alert, Let’s Fight Scam, A Crime Prevention Programme”, event organised by the George Town police contingent headquarters, the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) and Lions Club International District 308 B2.

“Hai Kuo Tian Kong” (Boundless Ocean, Vast Skies, 海闊天空), which extols the joys of personal freedom and the pursuit of dreams, was made famous by Beyond in 1993.

Last year, it became the first Cantonese song to be played over 100 million times on YouTube.

The song was composed and written by Koma Wong Ka-kui, the lead singer of Beyond.

Among those present at the event were George Town district police chief Assistant Commissioner Soffian Santong, Lions Club district governor KK Loy, state MCPF chairman Datuk Ong Poh Eng and his secretary Johnny Michael Tan.

Tan said the objective of the two-hour event was to create awareness about scams.

“What we did was explain to the public to be careful and not fall victim to scams,” he said.

On NEPD Band’s opening act, Tan said it was meant to be a crowd-puller.

“They did very well. Hundreds of shoppers stopped to see their performance,” he said.

This article first appeared on SCMP.