Masjid Omar Kampong Melaka, located at Keng Cheow Street off Havelock Road on the south bank of the Singapore River, is Singapore's first and oldest mosque. Constructed in 1820, the mosque initially served the local Muslim community but grew to accommodate Muslim immigrants from nearby Indonesia and the Middle East.
History
According to the Raffles Town Plan, land was set aside for Kampong Melaka or "Melaka Village" for the Muslim community. With the support of Palembang philanthropist Syed Omar bin Ali Aljunied, the beginnings of a surau or prayer house were established in 1820. The original building was a simple structure built with wooden planks and an attap roof. It served as a meeting point not only for the local Malays and Jawi-Peranakans but also early Muslim immigrants such as Arabs and Indonesians. A new road through Kampong Melaka later increased the number of worshippers and a larger building was required. Despite being located in the middle of a large Chinese community, the mosque remained untouched during the racial riots of the 1960s.
The mosque was declared a historic site on 11 November 2001.
In English, the full name of the building is often known as Omar Kampong Malacca Mosque. Variant names are due to variations in the spelling for Malacca, for example, Omar Kampong Melacca.
Key features
The brick structure took shape in 1855 with monetary contributions from merchant Syed Abdullah bin Omar Aljunied, the wealthy son of the original founder. The last major reconstruction took place between 1981 and 1982, when an administration building and an ablution area were added.
The current building is the third mosque built on this site. It had neither dome nor minaret until 1985, when a tall minaret with a small roof dome was added at the entrance of the mosque. It now has capacity for 1,000 worshippers, most of whom are office workers from the nearby city centre. Omar Road, the tiny street that once led into it, has disappeared under the nearby former Ministry of Labour building.
Syed Omar bin Ali Aljunied and his descendants are buried at the mosque.
Author
Veronon Cornelius-Takahama
References
Brazil, D. (1991). Street smart: Singapore. Singapore: Times Books International.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 BRA)
Edwards, N., & Keys, P. (1988). Singapore: A guide to buildings, streets & places (p. 400). Singapore: Times Books International.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 EDW)
Masjid Omar Kampong Melaka. (n.d.). Our history. Retrieved August 30, 2002, from http://www.mosque.org.sg/kgmelaka/
Mosques Guide 2000 (p. 73). (2000). Singapore: Islamic Religious Council.(Call no.: SING 297.35095957 TUM)
181-year-old mosque marked as historic site. (2001, November 12). The Straits Times, p. 4. Retrieved on November 9, 2010, from NewspaperSG.
Tan, T. (2003, September 12). Aged 183, this mosque is oldest place of worship. The Straits Times, p. 12. Retrieved on November 9, 2010, from NewspaperSG.
The information in this article is valid as at 2002 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
