JOHOR BARU: This year’s Chingay festival will go on but on a smaller scale after receiving the green light from the National Security Council (MKN).

       Only 100 to 220 fully-vaccinated individuals would be allowed to participate in the four-day festival from Feb 19-22 that marks the end of Chinese New Year, said Johor Baru South OCPD Asst Comm Raub Selamat.

       “The organisers have to follow strict standard operating procedure (SOP) during this period. Only association committee members whose names have been approved by the police can participate.

       “Several main roads in the city centre will be temporarily closed to give way to the celebration, and alternative routes will be made available to prevent traffic jam.

       “A total of 361 police officers and personnel will be on duty throughout all four days to man the streets to ensure all parties comply with the SOP,” he told a press conference after meeting with the Johor Baru Tiong-Hua Association about the Chingay SOP here yesterday.

       The festival will begin with a street-cleaning ceremony on Feb 19 before the deities from the five main Chinese dialect clans are brought out of the Johor Ancient Temple and taken to Xin Gong on Feb 20.

       This is a holding place for them to “stay” overnight before they are brought out again the next day for a tour of the city.

       The highlight of the festival is on Feb 21, when the deities are allowed to be paraded on 21 decorated lorries along a 7km route, with a maximum participation of 220 association members.

       The next day, the deities will be brought from Xin Gong back to the Johor Ancient Temple to mark the end of the festival.

       The public is reminded not to congregate or conduct business along the procession route to avoid unnecessary police action.

       Johor Baru Tiong-Hua Association president Ho Sow Tong thanked the police for taking the time to explain the SOP during the one-and-a-half hour engagement session yesterday.