My parents, both SLs at the time, asked for 1A/2A and got them at the KUL check-in counter on U award tickets, back in May 2018.
On a related note, I was once able to book myself, a partner OWE on one booking, and my family, a SL and two GRs on a separate booking, into the rear J cabin of a three-class KA plane on cheap Y tickets. This was done online through MMB several months before the flight (flown in January 2019). Mine might have been an X award ticket too.