Brunei is enforcing strict restrictions on Chinese New Year celebrations, including banning lion dance performances near to Muslim prayer times and by non-ethnic Chinese troupe members.

The restrictions come after state authorities clamped down on the display of Christmas decorations and Muslims were told in Friday sermon to avoid non-Muslim festivities.

This year, lion dance performances can only take place between Feb 19 to 21, from 8am to 11.30am and from 1.30pm to 5.15pm, Brunei news portal Brudirect.com reported.

However, the performances can only take place between 2pm and 5.15pm on Feb 20 because Muslim Friday prayers.

The portal reported that lion dance performances can only be held at temples, school halls and homes of Chinese association members.

It cited a government letter confirmed by the country’s Ministry of Home Affairs.

The state also put a ban on firecrackers and fireworks which traditionally accompany the performances, and said that only ethnic Chinese can perform the dance.

On Feb 7, The Brunei Times reported that Muslims were told through a Friday sermon to avoid non-Muslim festivities because it "could lead to tasyabbuh (imitation) and could damage the aqidah (faith) of Muslims".

"Sometimes the excitement and fervour of the festivities celebrated by the followers of other religions attract and entice some Muslims to want to participate and join in the merriment," the portal cited the sermon.

"Some might find such imitation to be insignificant but it can have an impact on our aqidah , therefore it is best to avoid it."

Under local laws, tassyabuh is an offence punishable of a fine or imprisonment of up to five years or both, news portal The Diplomat reported.

Ethnic Chinese Bruneians who flout the Chinese New Year restrictions breach a law which bars non-Muslims from displaying their festivities publicly to Muslims, it reported.

Bruneians appear to have been bracing for the restrictions.

On Jan 1, a participant on the ‘Brunei’ forum in popular forum host Reddit.com posted :

"Will Brunei allow Chinese New Year public displays in 2015? Let’s recap 2014:

  • K-boxes (karaoke boxes) banned;
  • Non-Muslims banned from using certain words;
  • NBT (Brunei) Sdn Bhd no longer put up festive display;
  • Daytime dining during Ramadan banned for Muslim and non-Muslim restaurants;
  • Christmas decorations banned; and
  • Empire Hotel no longer holding new year countdown and fireworks.
"Say, what’s next?"

The Muslim-majority nation’s growing conservatism was especially marked by the implementation of the syariah penal code in May 2014.

The implementation of hudud in Brunei was much celebrated by hudud-proponents in Malaysia.

At the time, analysts saw it as a boost for parties in the oil-rich nation's neighbouring countries who have hudud ambitions.

"Brunei’s introduction of hudud has catalyzed its Muslim-majority neighbors to be more assertive in pursuing the same laws,” Yang Razali Kassim, senior fellow with the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore told Time .

"To be sure, Malaysia has actually been ahead of the curve when it comes to grappling with the push for hudud , especially by the Islamist opposition."