But the religious procession went on as usual and drew some 11,500 devotees — the highest participation rate since 2013, in part helped by Thaipusam falling on a weekend. The annual Thaipusam procession was one of the first large scale events to continue after Singapore brought up its alert level from yellow to orange on Friday in response to the coronavirus outbreak that originated in Wuhan. In fact, when we do this, we may be inadvertently hurting the people who really need the supplies. “For example, you may have heard the stories that some people here buy up the alcohol swabs and then they deny people who really need it, like diabetic patients (who) need it. “I really urge that Singaporeans not do this because the strongest defence is a collective defence, ” he added.

Source: The Star February 09, 2020 04:52 UTC