Congregations of up to 100 to be allowed at 12 mosques, churches, & temples from Aug. 7

With necessary precautions in place to safeguard public health.

Nigel Chua | August 03, 2020, 04:25 PM

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)

  • Masjid Assyafaah (North)
  • Masjid Mujahidin (South)
  • Masjid Al-Istighfar (East)
  • Masjid Al-Iman (West)

Friday prayers only
Hindu Temples

  • Sri Mariamman Temple

Fridays only

  • Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple

Saturdays only
Churches

  • St Andrew’s Cathedral
  • Jurong Christian Church
  • Amazing Grace Presbyterian Church
  • Sengkang Methodist Church

Saturdays and Sundays only
Buddhist Temples

  • Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery

Saturdays and Sundays only
Gurdwaras

  • Central Sikh Temple

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