ENG-2007 — Page 428

364 | Religion and Custom

Caritas-Hong Kong is the official social welfare arm of the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong. These services are offered to everyone and, indeed, 95 per cent of those who have benefited from them are not Catholics.

The diocese publishes two weekly newspapers - · Kung Kao Po and the Sunday Examiner. The Diocesan Audio-Visual Centre also produces cultural and educational programmes for broadcast on TV and for incorporation in DVDs for distribution. Other media activities are generally coordinated by the Hong Kong Catholic Social Communications Office.

Muslim Community

There are about 90 000 Muslims in Hong Kong, of whom 30 000 are Chinese. The others are mostly locally born non-Chinese but there are also Muslims from Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Middle Eastern and African countries.

The Incorporated Trustees of the Islamic Community Fund of Hong Kong, a public charity, coordinates all of Hong Kong's Islamic religious activities. A board of trustees, nominated by the Islamic Union of Hong Kong, the Pakistan Association, the Indian Muslim Association and the Dawoodi Bohra Association, manages and maintains the masjids, two cemeteries and one kindergarten. In addition, the trustees organise Muslim festivals and other religious events. Charity work carried out by members of the Muslim community include providing financial aid to the needy, medical facilities and education assistance, and is done through different Muslim organisations.

The Chinese Muslim Cultural and Fraternity Association, established in 1922 in Wan Chai, is the major organisation representing Chinese Muslims in Hong Kong. Apart from conducting religious activities, the association manages and maintains five non-profit educational facilities: one college, two primary schools and two kindergartens. The association also gives a helping hand to Chinese Muslims in Hong Kong and on the Mainland.

Five principal masjids are used for daily prayers, the oldest being the Jamia Masjid in Shelley Street on Hong Kong Island, which was built in 1849 and rebuilt in 1915 to make room for 400 worshippers.

The eight-storey Masjid Ammar and Osman Ramju Sadick Islamic Centre, managed by the Islamic Union of Hong Kong in Wan Chai, houses a masjid on two floors, community hall, library, medical clinic, classrooms and offices, and can accommodate between 700 and 1 500 people.

The imposing Kowloon Masjid and Islamic Centre, with its distinctive white marble finish, is a major landmark in Tsim Sha Tsui. With three prayer halls, community hall, medical centre and library, the masjid can accommodate 3 500 worshippers. There is also a masjid inside Stanley Prison.

There are two Muslim cemeteries, one in Happy Valley and the other, which also has a masjid, at Cape Collinson, in Chai Wan.