By Asia Samachar Team | SINGAPORE |
Singapore has selected 12 places of worship, including a gurdwara, to conduct congregational and other worship services for up to 100 people, up from the earlier limit of 50 due to the novel coronavirus situation, effective Friday (7 Aug).
Central Sikh Temple (CST) will have the honours amongst the local gurdwaras under the pilot project overseen by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY). It is required to put in place necessary precautions to safeguard public health.
The other places of worship are Masjid Assyafaah, Masjid Mujahidin, Masjid Al-Istighfar, Masjid Al-Iman, St Andrew’s Cathedral, Jurong Christian Church, Amazing Grace Presbyterian Church and Sengkang Methodist Church.
The pilot will include the implementation of two zones of up to 50 persons each for congregational and other worship services in nine of the 12 ROs1, MYCC said in a statement released on 3 Aug.
MCCY said it has consulted religious leaders, who are also members of the National Steering Committee (NSC) on Racial and Religious Harmony, to identify the religious organisations (ROs) for the pilot.
“The pilot sites reflect the diversity of religious practices and worship settings in Singapore. The participating ROs must have first safely conducted congregational and other worship services for up to 50 persons under the guidelines for Phase Two,” it said.
For churches, mosques and gurdwaras, they are required to establish two zones, each accommodating up to 50 worshippers, for the worship service.
In worship settings where religious services are structured /seated, these zones will help to minimise interactions between worshippers. Each zone has to be separated by a physical partition or barrier.
Worshippers must maintain a safe distance from one another at all times. To avoid interaction between worshippers across zones, there should also be separate entrances and exits or staggered entry and exit timings for each zone, according to the statement.
With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Singapore gurdwaras had cancelled all congregational prayers and gatherings, effective 27 March, as instructed by the authorities.
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Coronavirus: Singapore gurdwaras to live-stream for sick, elderly (Asia Samachar, 12 March 2020)
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