Opposition Mp Urges Govt To Reconsider Ban On Thaipusam Chingay Processions

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PARLIAMENT | An opposition lawmaker has submitted a motion to the Dewan Rakyat speaker to debate on the ban on processions in the upcoming Thaipusam and Chingay celebrations early next year.
RSN Rayer (Pakatan Harapan-Jelutong) said processions are an integral part of Thaipusam and Chingay and urged the government to reconsider its decision.
“For your information, the highlight of the Thaipusam and Chingay celebrations are the processions of kavadi, silver chariot and Chingay.
“If there are no processions, there is no celebration. So I urge (the government) to correct this matter and for this matter to be given attention,” Rayer said in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He told the House he had submitted the emergency motion to the Speaker’s Office this morning, under Standing Orders 18(1).
Yesterday, Unity Minister Halimah Mohamed Sadique had said that the SOPs have been prepared for the Thaipusam celebration next January.
While she did not reveal the full details of the SOP, she said processions will not be allowed during Thaipusam or Chingay due to the emergence of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron.

 Rayer today said he had received a lot of feedback and complaints from people who were dissatisfied with the government’s decision to ban processions during Thaipusam and Chingay.

“If the Malacca and Sarawak state polls can be held, seeing as 95 percent of adults in Malaysia have received their vaccination, why has the ministry decided on this ban (on processions)?

“I would like to take this opportunity to implore for processions to be allowed during Thaipusam and Chingay, with compliance to strict SOPs,” he said. - Mkini

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