KUCHING, May 15: The lifting of gathering restriction for other religions will be decided by the Ministry of National Unity either by tomorrow (May 16) or by Tuesday (May 19).
According to Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, they have discussed the matter as other religions, namely Christian, Buddha, Hindu, Sikh and Taoism are also being banned from gathering for worship due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
He said that due to the relaxation that was given to mosques to reopen for Friday prayers, other religious groups have also applied for the same flexibility, and will follow the standard operating procedure (SOP) set.
“The Ministry of National Unity has been instructed by the cabinet to look into this matter and also discuss it with the five biggest religious representatives in the country.
“To my understanding, the ministry will be presenting their outcome tomorrow (Saturday), or the latest by May 19, 2020 (Tuesday),” he said in a press conference today.
Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri also stated that there was a possibility that the police or other uniform bodies will be stationed at mosques to ensure SOP compliance from mosque-goers.
He explained that since some mosques had been allowed to hold their Friday prayers starting today, feedback from the relevant ministry is still required in order to come out with a decision on this matter.
“Since today is the first day, we need to listen to the report from the relevant minister on this, and if there is any non-compliance from the public on the SOP, we might have to station the police or any uniform body to ensure that the SOP compliance is being met,” he added. —DayakDaily.
