ENG-1965 — Page 268

218

RELIGION AND CUSTOM

started construction of a four-storey building for outpatients. The first stage of a multi-purpose social centre in Caine Road, Hong Kong, comprising a hostel for men and case work and adminis- trative offices, was completed in November 1965.

Hong Kong's Jewish community worship at a synagogue in Robinson Road constructed in 1901 on land given by Mr Joseph Sassoon and his family. Mr Sassoon built the synagogue in memory of his mother Leah and it is therefore known as the Synagogue 'Ohel Leah'. The Jewish Recreation Club and the resident rabbi's apartments are on the same site. There are about 300 people in the congregation and they belong to families who originally came from the United Kingdom, China, India, Eastern and Western Europe, and the United States, as well as people born in Hong Kong.

There are about 5,000 followers of Islam in Hong Kong, most of them Chinese who have come to the Colony during the past 10 years. The other members of the Muslim community are mainly Pakistanis, Malaysians, Persians and people from neighbouring regions. They gather for prayers at the Shelley Street Mosque on Hong Kong Island and at the Nathan Road Mosque in Kowloon. - The Shelley Street Mosque dates back to the early days of the Islamic faith in Hong Kong in the 1880's. The mosque in Kowloon was originally built for the use of Moslem troops in the former Indian Army and is situated on land at present within the boundaries of Whitfield Barracks. Two places have been set aside by the govern- ment as burial grounds for the Muslim community. One is at Happy Valley and the other at the new Cape Collinson Cemetery, Chai Wan. The latter contains a beautifully designed mosque built by the government.

A board of trustees, comprising representatives of the various groups within the Muslim community, is the co-ordinating body of all religious affairs and is also responsible for the mosques and cemeteries. Much charitable work among the Muslim community is being done by a welfare committee set up in recent years by a group of public-spirited women.

The Hindu community numbers more than 3,500 and their religious and social activities centre round a temple in Happy Valley. The community has been associated with Hong Kong since earliest times and the temple itself is considered to be one of the