PUTRAJAYA, May 21 — Non-Muslim houses of worship will be permitted to reopen on June 10, but only in the green zones, said Senior Minister (security cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
However, he said, they must comply with standard operating procedures (SOP) set including the number of those present should not exceed 30 people and is subject to the size of the place of worship.
“If a house of worship is small and cannot accommodate 30 people, then the number of people attending should be less, people should not crowd together,” he said at a press conference here today.
In addition, Ismail Sabri said senior citizens of 70 years old and above, and children of 12 years old and below are not permitted to attend.
Body temperature screening, the use of hand sanitisers and the wearing of face masks were also part of the SOP, he added.
Permission to use these houses of worship will only be granted to Malaysians, and only be opened on auspicious days according to the respective religions.
“For example Christians go to church on Sundays, so only Sundays are permitted,” he said.
To date, the government has allowed 174 places of worship nationwide to reopen, namely 84 Hindu temples, 15 Chinese temples, 67 churches and eight gurdwaras.
He said permission would be granted gradually and so far it accounts for about one per cent of houses of worship nationwide.
Meanwhile, he said weddings were still not allowed at these premises, adding that if there were violations of the SOP then this relaxation of the rules would be retracted immediately.
With regard to the operation of barbershops, he said, the SOP proposed by the hairdressers association was still being fine-tuned before a decision was taken by the National Security Council (NSC) and the Health Ministry.
On the supply of basic necessities, Ismail Sabri said the government had also agreed to add 19 more items to the Festive Season Maximum Price Control Scheme (SHMMP) for Hari Raya effective from May 22 to June 3.
He said among the price-controlled items were vegetables such as tomatoes, red chillies, big onions and dried chillies in addition to ‘ikan kembung’ and ‘ikan selayang’, and also assured the people they don’t have to worry about food products and other basic necessities during the festive season as there were adequate supplies.
In the meantime, customers should lodge a report with the police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission if there was a leak of personal data such as identity card number after entering business premises.
Ismail Sabri said it was agreed at today’s meeting to waive 50 per cent of the hotel quarantine charges for people with disabilities who are returning from abroad, while members of Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme still have to bear the full quarantine charge of RM150 per day.
Yesterday Ismail Sabri said that from June 1, all Malaysians overseas who want to return home would have to pay 50 per cent of the RM150 per day for hotels converted to Covid-19 quarantine centres while non-citizens will be charged 100 per cent.
— Bernama
