The Penang deputy chief minister II claimed that Halimah Sadique had previously been “agreeable” to a chariot procession with 500 devotees accompanying it, instead of the 100 as announced today.

Hence, the government’s announcement today “caught us by surprise”, he said in a Facebook post.

According to Ramasamy, the SOP proposal was not the one Halimah agreed to earlier on with the temple committee.

“The SOP is a blatant restriction on Thaipusam, especially with regard to the chariot procession,” said Ramasamy, who is Penang Hindu Endowment Board (PHEB) chairman.

Earlier today, Halimah announced that while chariot procession in Penang would be allowed, they would be limited to no more than 100 devotees accompanying it from the temple.

Ramasamy said it did not make sense for only 100 temple committee members to follow the chariot.

He also said that the main feature of Thaipusam was the chariot procession and without it, the celebration would lose its significance.

“We might as well not have the chariot procession with 100 persons accompanying it. It is utter nonsense.”

Ramasamy went on to accuse Halimah of being ignorant of Thaipusam or its significance to Hindus.

He also advised Halimah not to make things difficult for Hindus.

“There is still time to revise the SOPs to allow more devotees to accompany the chariots.”

In January last year, the National Security Council (MKN) imposed strict Covid-19 SOPs during Thaipusam, allowing for only 10 devotees to accompany the chariot procession.