LettersWhy Hong Kong Muslims need a mosque in Sheung Shui
- The growing Muslim community is underserved in its needs for a place of worship, learning and social care. The government should not take back the land set aside for a planned mosque and home for the elderly
Muslims from different racial backgrounds have been a part of Hong Kong since the mid-19th century. Many read, write and speak fluent Cantonese and have lived and worked here for several generations.
Originally migrants from mainland China, the Indian subcontinent, as well as Southeast Asia, many of them have brought up their children here who now serve the city as teachers, doctors, lawyers, police and firefighters, as well as within the Correctional Services Department and other civil service bodies.
Yet, Muslims have struggled to secure a place of worship. Not a single mosque has been built in Hong Kong since well before the 1997 handover, 23 years ago.
Never mind how none of surrounding plots in the Sheung Shui area has been developed, nor how the planned home for the elderly, which accounts for 70 per cent of the overall project, is an entirely social enterprise with zero profit incentives and would serve an urgent need for the fast-growing ageing population of the city, especially in Sheung Shui.
The loss of land is also a major blow to the growing number of Muslims in the surrounding areas, who remain underserved in their needs for a place of worship, learning, social care and community services.