Hold the Health of the Faithful Supreme, Don’t Add Trouble for Matsu

Hold the Health of the Faithful Supreme, Don’t Add Trouble for Matsu

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

February 27, 2020

 Translation of an Excerpt

March is the month when the faithful are fervent in honoring Matsu, often tens of thousands of the faithful join the processions headed by Dajia Matsu and Baishatun Matsu through 21 towns. Whether these activities should be held as usual has become a battle between the pros and cons amid the epidemic situation.

Epidemic prevention is tantamount to warfare; with a slight slip-up, the whole chess game would be lost. The undying faith of the public must of course be supported with all efforts; however, at this serious moment in epidemic prevention and control, perhaps we should listen to experts’ opinions and resolutely break the pro forma established precedents. This is also an important appreciation of revering the deities and showing empathy to the faithful. Observing Matsu processions and religious pilgrimages in the past, although a lot of time was spent outdoors, often times the crowds made frequent and close contacts, eating together, and sanitation and hygiene facilities were not as convenient as in ordinary times, all elevating the risk of infection through contacts among the faithful. Should a slip-up take place, a massive number of cluster infections would occur, besides causing the existing manpower in medical care and epidemic prevention to be even more strained, it would also aggravate the burden and challenges on our health and epidemic prevention system.

Under such circumstances, besides the fact that the sponsoring organizations must prudently think thrice, government agencies should also propose concrete guiding principles for the observance of all circles of society. If one truly reveres and believes in Matsu, he/she should not add troubles for Matsu!

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