Soosai Soosai had about 80 eager Catholics signing up with his travel agency two months ago to go to Singapore to attend Pope Francis’ Mass in the island nation.
However, half of them pulled out after learning that Malaysia’s some 1.5 million Catholics have to share just 900 seats allocated to them by the Singapore archdiocese to attend the papal Mass.
Each of the nine dioceses in Malaysia was given 100 seats, regardless of the number of parishes and Catholics.
Organisers say seats are limited for the Sept 12 papal Mass at the Singapore National Stadium, which can accommodate 40,000 people.
Soosai said most Catholics who signed up with him came from one parish — Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Klang, about 40 kilometres west of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.