ENG-1951 — Page 133

Hong Kong Year Books 香港年報 All

The Parsis were among the foreign communities who arrived with the British in 1841. They had in 1829 established a prayer-house and cemetery in Macao, and in 1859 they established their first cemetery in Hong Kong in Happy Valley. In 1874 they established a prayer- hall in Elgin Street, which was moved in the nineteen-thirties to a new site on Leighton Hill. There is no Fire Temple or Tower of Silence.

The Jews, whose community numbers about 150, were also established in Macao prior to the foundation of Hong Kong where they were among the earliest residents. Their cemetery, on the slopes of Happy Valley, was founded in 1855, and their religious services were originally held in premises rented in the Peel Street, Staunton Street area of the Central district of Victoria. In 1901 land was purchased by the community in Robinson Road and the present Synagogue constructed, the entire foundation being the gift of Sir Jacob Sassoon.

The Hindus have never had a temple in the Colony, but the community plans to construct one shortly in Happy Valley. Those Hindus from Sind and the Punjab who have to some extent been influenced by the teachings of Guru Nanak occasionally take part in observances at the Sikh temple; apart from this there is only private worship.

The Russian Orthodox congregation, which is about 100 strong, is divided between those who recognize the present Patriarch of Moscow and those who do not. For the latter, by arrangement with the Anglican Church authorities Russian Orthodox services are held in the church hall of St. Andrew's Kowloon,

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