As Singapore moves towards Circuit Breaker Phase 3, ensuring that religious houses of worship such as mosques can remain clean and safe is of huge importance to Singaporean Muslims as well as the wider community. ? To ease us towards Phase 3 regulations, MUIS announced on Sunday 1 November that some things will be changing for selected mosques moving forward. Here's what you need to know!
1. What are the main changes?
Credit: Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) on Facebook
From 13 November 2020 (Friday), 10 selected mosques will be expanding the number of congregants for Friday prayers to 3 zones of 50 congregants each. If all goes well, in subsequent weeks the number of zones will be expanded up to 5. Eventually the aim is to be able to house 750 congregants per mosque to enable even more people to do their Friday prayers! ?
P.S. Do note that this larger capacity only applies to Friday congregational prayers at the moment. For other prayer timings, we'll have to wait and see!
2. What are the mosques affected?
The 10 mosques under this pilot programme are:
- Masjid Sultan
- Masjid Angullia
- Masjid Al-Islah
- Masjid Al-Istighfar
- Masjid Darul Ghufran
- Masjid An-Nur
- Masjid Assyafaah
- Masjid Yusof Ishak
- Masjid Al-Khair
- Masjid Maarof
3. How will it affect me if I want to visit these mosques for prayers?
As this pilot programme will increase the number of congregants passing through the mosque, these 10 mosques will require mandatory TraceTogether usage for all congregants who visit the mosque for prayers or other activities. You can use either the TraceTogether app or TraceTogether Token but either option will be mandatory for entry from 13 November (Friday) onwards.
4. What's the difference between TraceTogether and SafeEntry? Why can't we just use SafeEntry?
SafeEntry helps track COVID-19 clusters, while TraceTogether is used for contact tracing. They are best used together as they are complementary.
Credit: TraceTogether
For example, if a positive COVID-19 case is confirmed to have visited mosque X on a certain day and time, SafeEntry will help show if other positive cases have also occurred at mosque X. Whereas TraceTogether will help identify the other congregants who had close contact with the patient (e.g. congregants standing near enough or who interacted with the patient).
5. I don't have the TraceTogether Token yet but don't want to use the app. What can I do?
Credit: The People's Association on Facebook
You can check this website for updates on TraceTogether Token collection in your neighbourhood. As the Token collection has faced overwhelming demand in the last week, do note that some areas may only have Token collection in late November or early December 2020. Unfortunately, as TraceTogether will be mandatory at these mosques for Friday prayers, if you do not have the Token but still want to perform Friday prayers you will need to use the app instead.
6. So what will I need to bring if I'm doing Friday prayers at these mosques from 13 November onwards?
Here's a simple checklist so you won't forget anything!
- Your own personal prayer garments (if needed)
- Your own personal prayer mat
- SafeEntry check-in using your phone or NRIC card
- TraceTogether Token OR TraceTogether app
- Hand sanitiser
- And of course, a face mask!
Do take the necessary precautions before doing your prayers! While we might be eager to return to our mosques for Friday prayers, the health and wellbeing of ourselves as well as our community should remain our first priority. ?