Opposition to plans for a mosque is fuelling SAR Muslim's feelings of being discriminated against

ASK RESIDENT leaders in a New Territories town why they are opposed to a place of worship in their neighbourhood and they deny it has anything to do with religion. But the fact that the building in question is a mosque has given rise to some strong feelings in Sheung Shui.

For 10 years, members of Hong Kong's 80,000-strong Muslim community have been trying to obtain permission to have a mosque built in the New Territories to add to the five temples already in Kowloon and Hong Kong island. The mosque would form part of a centre for the United Muslims Association.

A site in Tsui Lai Garden was earmarked four years ago for the proposed mosque and residents lodged the usual type of complaints which crop up against planning applications such as design, traffic disruption and fung shui. But world events have given their opposition a far more controversial edge.

Representatives of the 8,000 people on the estate insist that opposition to the mosque is not based on race or religion. However, since the September 11 terrorist outrages in the United States, said to be inspired by Islamic extremists, many in Tsui Lai Garden are becoming less restrained in expressing their views.

'I feel even worse about Muslims after the incident,' a housewife surnamed Ng said. 'The religion is too radical. I fear there will be some conflicts between our children and people who come to worship in the mosque in the future.'

Her 11-year-old daughter is even more direct, perhaps absorbing her mother's racist opinions on 'Middle East' people. 'I do not like them; they eat with their hands. I do not want to study with their children,' she says.

Not only are such tirades distressing local Muslims, they have become something of an embarrassment to local councillors and resident group leaders.