Stakeholders for the upcoming Thaipusam celebration have been instructed to examine the logistics and area capacity for the silver chariot procession in order to fine-tune the SOPs for the religious festival next January, said Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.
His statement comes after the public backlash due to the initial announcement that processions would be banned outright during Thaipusam.
“The Health Ministry, the police, the Unity Ministry and representatives from the temple will go down to the ground to examine the capacity of the space, the logistical needs as well as the checkpoints along the route of the silver chariot,” Hishammuddin said at a press conference in Parliament today, after attending this week’s ministerial quartet meeting this morning.
The ministerial quartet meeting was also attended by Unity Minister Halimah Mohamed Saddique and Human Resources Minister M Saravanan.
Hishammuddin said the meeting had discussed the Thaipusam SOPs with priority on the prayer ceremony at the temple, the silver chariot, kavadi and the Paal koodam processions, shaving of one’s hair, the river bathing ritual and the opening of stalls.
SOPs for Christmas
He added that they also discussed SOPs for Christmas, with the focus on the prayer ceremony, family visits, live performances, house-to-house carolling as well as Christmas markets.
“It is important to remember that in determining every SOP, the government’s priority is the health and safety of the people, especially taking into account the spread of the Omicron variant around the world right now.
“As such, I would like to ask for the people’s cooperation in complying with every SOP that will soon be announced by the Unity Ministry,” he said.
The ministerial quartet meeting also agreed in principle to loosen restrictions for the entry of new foreign workers in other sectors aside from the plantation sector, he said.
This comes as many businesses struggle to cope with reopening due to an insufficient number of foreign workers, he said.
However, he noted the ministerial quartet is only focusing on improving the process from pre-departure to arrival, post-departure quarantine as well as post-quarantine.
“To decide on the number of foreign workers allowed in, that is not under the jurisdiction of the ministerial meeting but under the Human Resources Ministry and the Home Ministry,” Hishammuddin said. - Mkini
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