KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 — Malaysians can still carry on with wedding ceremonies and Muslim funeral rites during the upcoming two-week pause of non-essential activities nationwide, but with the condition that no crowds are involved, the National Security Council (NSC) announced this afternoon.
The NSC, which will be meeting daily to monitor the Covid-19 outbreak in Malaysia, today released a list of frequently-asked-questions (FAQ) to provide details and advice on what Malaysians should do during the implementation of the government’s two-week Movement Control Order from March 18 (tomorrow) to March 31.
Commenting on a question of whether weddings, celebrations and kenduri (or feasts) can still go on, the NSC provided the answer: “A wedding ceremony can be carried out with no involvement of crowds attending. For the Majlis Persandingan, reception and other ceremonies, this should be postponed until the issue of the spread of Covid-19 in Malaysia ends.”
Majlis persandingan refers to a tradition in Malay weddings where the newlywed couple sits on a platform or dias.
The NSC also provided a hypothetical scenario of whether solat jenazah or Muslim prayers for the dead and the recital of tahlil prayers are allowed if someone who is not a Covid-19 patient dies at home, before replying that funeral arrangements for deceased Muslims can be carried out.
“Can be handled with the closest kin only together with the mosque/surau management committee only. Solat jenazah only without tahlil,” the NSC said in its brief answer on the matter.
Solat jenazah are usually brief and last just a few minutes during which prayers are said for the dead, while the tahlil recital is a much longer ritual that typically involves a crowd gathering to recite prayers for the dead.
The government’s two-week movement control order bans Malaysians from holding public gatherings, as it is easier for Covid-19 to spread amid crowds.
Even before this two-week order was announced, the government had previously urged for the postponement of mass gatherings, and advised Malaysians to practise social distancing or staying at least one metre apart from each other to help slow the spread of Covid-19.
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