Online Press Conference for Thean Hou Temple opening SOP during CNY 2021

Speech delivered by President PHSW (Thean Hou Temple) Datuk Dr. CY Tang

Good morning everyone!

This is the second online press conference held by Thean Hou Temple for the Lunar New Year 2021 since February 2, 2021.

Thank you the media for delegating reporters to participate in this online press conference. We specially call this online press conference due to the government temporarily announced the changing of standard operating procedures (SOP) for the coming Lunar New Year. The Chinese prayers will be allowed visit the temple with the restriction for 3 days during the coming Lunar New Year, to witon Lunar New Year’s Eve, the first day and the eighth day of the Lunar new year.

When faced this dilemma, we don’t have much time to think about it. We know very well that when the pandemic is persisted , the opening of temples will cause many people’s doubts and worries. Nevertheless, if our temple is not going to open, we will be blamed and questioned by certain group of people.

Eventually we decided to open Thean Hou temple to the public during these 3 days under strict standard operating procedures.

The Thean Hou Temple shouldered the burden of inheriting the culture of the Chinese community. The Lunar New Year is the most important festival for the Chinese in a year. It is a traditional customs of Chinese descent to burn incense and pray in the temple during the Lunar New Year.This is a cultural promotion mission and our responsibility as well.

With the restrictive opening allowed by the government, we believe that as long as we follow the standard operating procedures set by the government and perform our work in a rigorous and responsible manner, we do not need to worry too much about the epidemic.

The Thean Hou Temple hosted a number of large-scale international cultural events in the past. There were thousands of attendees, and we all have the ability to handle and complete the work.This time we estimated there are only 240 people are allowed visit to Thean Hou Temple in a day andtotal 720 people in 3 days. We think thatit is not a difficult task for us to handle the situation in an orderly.

We promise that we will take care of the safety and health of the prayers and ensure that they visit to Thean Hou Temple to burn incense and pray for blessings with peace of mind. At the same time, we also urge the prayers to be considerate and understanding. We will arrange the telephone appointment session starting from tomorrow (Feb,10) for those devotees to make appointment prior they visit to Thean Hou Temple during the coming Lunar New year.What we did is for their safetysake.

Our hotline number for the telephone appointment is 03-2274 0631（9am-5pm on Feb 10）. The particulars of the prayers need to provide us during telephone appointment such as their name, handphone number and car plate number.

The standard operating procedures for the fight against the pandemic are not designed to embarrass everyone, but to take care of everyone’s safety.In this process, everyone’s efforts, cooperation are needed and they must take a certain responsibility and no one or either party should be blamed.

In addition to the temple session, other attractions of Thean Hou Temple including the CNY’s theme production area are not allowed to be visited at this stage. However, although we cannot fully open all our attractions to the public, we will organize online activities for the public as stated in our first online press conference to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Welcome all to our Facebook page of Thean Hou Temple Malaysia (Thean Hou Temple), or website www.hainannet.com.my, our online interactive game and Lantern Festival guessing riddle game, will soon be meeting you online.

During this Lunar New Year, most of our friends will not be able to meet us in Thean Hou Temple, but please don’t be disappointed. The pandemic will eventually pass. The important thing is that we must work together and fight the pandemic with all our strength so that the it will end. We are looking for “Turn over aNiu Leaf ” during the year of the Ox.

Wishing you all a happy Chinese New Year and all the best!