KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 (Sin Chew Daily) – Following an uproar in the Malaysian society with regard to the Chinese New Year standard operating procedures announced by senior minister (security cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob last Thursday, the government has now revised and finalized the controversial parts of the SOPs.

National unity minister Datuk Wira Halimah Mohamed Sadique announced that Malaysians can now enjoy reunion dinner on Chinese New Year Eve with not more than 15 of their family members living within a radius of 10km provided that they do not travel out of their own district or state.

She also said the government had agreed to allow places of worship to operate on three days, namely February 11, 12 and 19 between 6.00 a.m. and 2.00 p.m., in strict compliance with the SOPs with not more than 30 devotees inside at each time slot interspersed by 30 minutes of sanitation.

They will also be allowed to pay homage to the Heaven God within their own house compounds on the eighth night of Chinese New Year on Feb 19.

Halimah said in a statement that Ismail Sabri agreed to revise the SOPs in a special national security council meeting he chaired.

Controversial

Under the earlier version of SOPs announced last week, Malaysians can only have reunion dinner with their families living under the same roof while temples and other places of worship are not allowed to open throughout the MCO.

Such SOPs have irked many, who argue that the government had shown no respect for the Chinese traditions of having reunion dinners with their families on CNY Eve and paying their homage to their ancestors and the deities during the New Year celebration.

Ismail Sabri earlier said the SOPs were drawn up based on the discussions between the ministry of national unity and 21 religious organizations in the country.

The Taoist Association of Malaysia said the ministry consulted them for opinions and proposals but did not discuss the final SOPs with them.

Han Culture Center Malaysia said the proposals they made to the government were not adopted at all. Christian Federation of Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) were equally disappointed with the SOPs which were different from what had been proposed by them.

The Federation Of Chinese Associations Malaysia, meanwhile, said it had never been invited to the dialogue.

After the SOPs were first announced by Ismail Sabri, deputy national unity minister Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker commented on Facebook that someone there had made a mistake and that the SOPs must be withdrawn immediately and rectified.

However, he was glad the MKN  was willing to listen to the feedback from the local Chinese community and decided to revise the SOPs.

He told Sin Chew Daily in a telephone interview yesterday that he hoped this issue could be put to a rest now that the revised SOPs had been unveiled.