KOTA KINABALU: The Federation of Chinese Associations Sabah (FCAS) has called on Chinese organisations in the state to exercise greater caution, including adopting precautionary measures, when organising Chinese New Year programmes and activities, amidst the ongoing Omicron wave.
Its President Tan Sri T.C Goh stressed that this is important in order to prevent the emergence of the “Chinese New Year clusters” of Covid-19.
Goh who is also President of the Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) and President of the Federation of Sabah and Labuan Hokkien Associations (FSLHA) urged this in a statement issued today, in support of the State Security Council’s (SCC) announcement to tighten the standard operating procedures (SOP) for official and social events, which include limiting the number of attendees/participants and duration allowed for such events.
He acknowledged that with the spike in the number of Omicron cases in the state, which exceeded 6,000 cases daily for the last six consecutive days, it was appropriate and necessary for the SCC to start tightening the SOP under the stage four of the National Recovery Plan (NRP), as announced on Thursday.
Goh who is also a member of the Sabah Economic Advisory Council (SEAC) also supported the call made by Sabah state secretary, Datuk Safar Untong, calling all quarters to temporarily postpone all programmes and activities on the ground, so as to prevent the Omicron virus from spreading further. He thus hoped Chinese organisations in the state which have planned or are planning to organise their Chinese New Year events, could heed the call.
He went on to note that, in view of the spike in Omicron cases and the fact that many committee members and invited guests were either tested positive or required to undergo quarantine, the two Chinese organisations led by him i.e. Huazong and FSLHA too were forced to cancel their Chinese New Year receptions, which were scheduled for 9 February and the coming 14 February, respectively.
“We sincerely apologise to all our invited guests on the cancellations of our Chinese New Year receptions; it was an inevitable decision after taking into consideration of everyone’s safety,” he said.
He also urged the people of Sabah, the Chinese community especially, to continue to extend their full support and cooperation to the state government to suppress and break the Omicron chain of infections, so that Sabah could achieve a speedy recovery in all sectors.
