Scaled-down Chingay Festival proceeds despite Covid-19 outbreak

JOHOR BARU: Despite being scaled down following the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak, the Chingay Festival celebrations still managed to pull in a sizable crowd.

The crowd started building up around 4pm at the Xing Gong temple along Jalan Ulu Ayer Molek on Friday (Feb 14).

Those entering the temple here were required to have their temperature checked, put on a face mask and have their hands sanitised.

At 7.15pm, five lorries carrying figures of deities worshipped by the five main Johor clans – Teochew, Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese and Hainan – started their 8km drive around town.

In previous years, the deities were carried by foot, followed by thousands who would join in the parade, accompanied by colourful floats and performances.

However, this year, only the five lorries with a small crowd were spotted along the roads in town with people waiting along Jalan Wong Ah Fook in the city centre to witness the scaled-down version of the parade.

Earlier, it had been reported that the Chingay Festival had to be scaled-down further following an increased risk of the Covid-19.

The state government was against the continuation of the festival and had urged the organisers to cancel it.