National unity ministry to bring appeals on Chinese New Year SOPs to NSC

The national unity ministry will bring the views and appeals of the Chinese community regarding SOPs on family reunion dinners and temple prayers this Chinese New Year to the attention of the National Security Council (NSC).

It said in a statement today that the SOPs for Chinese New Year were prepared after discussions with 21 religious organisations, Chinese cultural associations and related parties on Jan 12 and 18.

The associations involved in the discussion on Jan 12 included the Malaysian Buddhist Association, the Taoist Associations of Malaysia, the Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association, the Han Culture Association and the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce and Industries.

The discussion on Jan 18 meanwhile saw the involvement of the Cheng Ho Multi Culture Education, Malaysian Faith And Culture Interaction Kuala Lumpur and Huazhong Malaysia, among others.

The ministry said any announcement on the appeals over the SOPs would be made by Senior Minister for Security Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Ismail had announced the SOPs for Chinese New Year, which falls on Feb 12 and 13 this year, yesterday.

He said large dining events would be limited to family members living in the same household while prayers at temples, house-to-house visits, inter-district or interstate travel to visit family members and friends as well as lion dance, dragon dance, lantern parades, Chinese opera and stage performances would not be allowed.