Live music during Thaipusam Processions in Singapore: developments in the law on Freedom of Religion

• Main Author: ONG, Benjamin Joshua
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2016
• Subjects: Religion Law
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/2263; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/4215/viewcontent/Live_Music_during_Thaipusam_Processions_in_Singapore__Developments_in_the_Law_on_Freedom_of_Religion___OHRH.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

In Singapore, due to the 2009 Public Order Act, public processions require an official permit, which may have conditions attached. In Vijaya Kumar s/o Rajendran v Attorney-General (17 September 2015), three applicants, citing their constitutional rights to freedom of religion and equality before the law, challenged such a condition which prohibited the use of musical instruments (other than at certain fixed points) during the annual procession for the Hindu festival of Thaipusam.