Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia ease restrictions for Ramadaan

Locals are looking forward to enjoying this holy month after facing restrictions on celebrations last year when Covid-19 lockdowns were implemented. Picture: Olga Ozik from Pixabay

Locals are looking forward to enjoying this holy month after facing restrictions on celebrations last year when Covid-19 lockdowns were implemented. Picture: Olga Ozik from Pixabay

Published Apr 14, 2021

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CAPE TOWN - Muslims living in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia can now return to mosques for prayer and share Ramadaan with their families as lockdown restrictions are eased.

According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), a Singapore-based broadcaster, locals are eager to get on with their lives and are looking forward to enjoying this holy month after facing restrictions on celebrations last year when lockdowns were implemented due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We continue to pray that Covid-19 will end soon, so we can pray in congregation at mosque in the upcoming years,” Yassin Pasha, an Indonesian local, told CNA.

Indonesian restaurants and cafés reopened to allow for locals to get together for iftar, the meal eaten by Muslims after sunset to break their fast each day during Ramadaan.

Meanwhile, in Malaysia, local traders have welcomed the easing of restrictions, which allows them to get back to work and reopen the Ramadaan street bazaars.

Today Online, a Singapore-based digital news provider, reported that Singapore migrant workers who were quarantined in dormitories can now get back to a normal routine by returning to work and performing congregational prayers.

“Last year, I was distressed. We were not able to work, so I was not receiving my full salary,” migrant worker Kazi Badruddoza told Today.

“We were only given allowances, which was all that I could send home, but it was not enough.

"All the money that I could send back (to my relatives in Bangladesh) was just used for them to survive… they did not buy new clothes for Eid last year,” he said.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong authorities are looking to finalise an agreement with Singapore on a travel bubble after they sent a proposal at the end of March.

Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, said she is expecting “an early indication of agreement between the two sides” once Singapore reopens its borders.

ANA

Related Topics:

LockdownCovid-19