PETALING JAYA: Processions for the Chingay festival in Johor, which are usually held between Feb 19 and Feb 22, as well as celebrations for the Hindu Maasi Magam festival from Feb 16 to 19 are allowed subject to strict SOPs, says Senior Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin.

       The Defence Minister said prayers at the Johor Ancient Temple and Xing Gong for Chingay, which was celebrated by the Hainan, Hakka, Hokkien, Teochew and Tiong Hua clans, would be allowed in line with the SOP for non-Muslim houses of worship under Phase 4 of the National Recovery Plan.

       Devotees would not be allowed to participate in the procession, which would only be limited to members of the temple management.

       The names of the temple management members and procession routes would have to be submitted to and approved by the police.

       Only 11 decorated trucks with not more than 20 temple members would be allowed in the parade.

       As for Maasi Magam, only those who had been fully vaccinated would be allowed to participate with SOPs such as wearing face masks and physical distancing of 1m must be observed.

       The chariot procession was allowed but without any stops and limited to only temple management members numbering not more than 50.

       Similar to Chingay, the names of the temple management members and procession routes must be submitted to and approved by the police.