The Road Transport Department (JPJ) has its own marching band, Mega Symphony, formed in 2017 at the Malaysia Road Transport Academy in Ayer Molek, Melaka.
The idea came after a training graduation ceremony in November 2016, when then transport ministry secretary-general Saripuddin Kasim noticed an outside band had been hired for the march-past and decided the department should have its own by the next ceremony.
JPJ senior enforcement director Muhammad Kifli Ma Hassan, who helped set up the band, had about six months to make it happen. When he first asked new recruits who wanted to join, only three raised their hands. A marching band generally needs about 30 members to sound balanced outdoors.
After speaking to trainees individually, 35 candidates were found from JPJ branches nationwide, including Sabah and Sarawak, though only three had any experience playing. Instruments had to be rented or borrowed from other agencies, and specially appointed instructors trained the group.
By May 2017, Mega Symphony gave its first official performance at a JPJ graduation ceremony. Its members are JPJ officers and staff with regular jobs rather than full-time musicians, and the band favours popular tunes audiences recognise alongside formal marching pieces.