'You can still feel the village atmosphere': Sembawang mosque built by villagers in 1963 stands on borrowed time

In 1963, villagers in the northern coast of Singapore built Masjid Petempatan Melayu Sembawang at Jalan Mempurong.

Today, the mosque remains standing, surrounded by nature — even as the villages around it gave way to HDB blocks.

"We still carry out prayers at the mosque but we do not hold religious classes as nobody wants to make their way to the mosque, which is rather secluded and surrounded by wooded areas," 74-year-old Mohd Amin Abd Latip told Berita Harian.

"We open the mosque for visits during inter-faith activities. You can still feel the village atmosphere here. The mosque is not fenced up and sometimes you can see wildlife in the compound. The charm attracts city dwellers to visit the mosque."

Amin remembers accompanying his dad to help build the mosque. He recounted how the villagers contributed 50 cents each for the building of the mosque. Lee Foundation donated $10,000 towards the project.

"We built the main prayer hall first and everything else was added in phases," said Amin.

The chairman of the mosque's committee recalled approaching Dr Tony Tan, who was a Sembawang MP at the time, for the mosque to be spared from the redevelopment projects.

Masjid Petempatan Melayu Sembawang was granted a Temporary Occupation Lease in the 1980s.

Amin approached Sembawang MP Ong Ye Kung recently and was assured that the mosque would be left standing until at least 2030.

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This article was first published in The New Paper. Permission required for reproduction.