12 religious organisations (ROs) will be allowed to accommodate 100 persons at a time for congregational and other worship services, instead of the current limit of 50 persons.
This pilot initiative was announced by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) on Aug. 3.
Identification of the 12 organisations
The 12 ROs were identified after consultation with religious leaders, who are part of the National Steering Committee (NSC) on Racial and Religious Harmony.
MCCY said that one of the selection criteria was that participating ROs must have safely conducted congregational and other worship services for up to 50 persons under the guidelines for Phase Two.
MCCY said that it would "assess how well the participating ROs implement the required safe management measures" before making a decision on increasing the limit on the number of worshippers at other ROs.
The 12 ROs, and the selected worship services for the pilot are as follows:
Places of Worship | Participating Religious Organisations | Selected Worship Services for Pilot |
Mosques (1 mosque per cluster) |
| Friday prayers only |
Hindu Temples |
| Fridays only |
| Saturdays only | |
Churches |
| Saturdays and Sundays only |
Buddhist Temples |
| Saturdays and Sundays only |
Gurdwaras |
| Saturdays and Sundays only |
Additional measures required
MCCY said that ROs involved in the pilot would be required to put in place additional measures, on top of the prevailing safe management measures introduced at the start of Phase Two.
Zones for structured/seated worship services
At churches, mosques and gurdwaras, where religious services are structured or seated, there will be two zones accommodating up to 50 worshippers each.
Each zone will be separated by a physical partition or barrier, and worshippers must maintain a safe distance from each other.
There should also be separate entrances and exits or staggered entry and exit timings for each zone, in order to reduce interaction between worshippers across zones, MCCY said.
No crowding, bunching, or mingling
At Buddhist, Taoist and Hindu temples, ROs must ensure that there is no crowding or bunching of worshippers at common areas, and in prayer halls.
Additionally, there is to be no mingling between groups, as well as safe distancing between worshippers, MCCY said.
Safe Management Plans to be submitted to MCCY
The ROs involved in the pilot must update their Safe Management Plans and submit them to MCCY at least three days before commencing the pilot.
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Top image via sikhs.org.sg
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