Masjid Omar Kampong Melaka, Singapore
Copyright © Timothy Tye.
Masjid Omar Kampong Melaka
Keng Cheow Street
Masjid Omar Kampong Melaka is a rather insignificant-looking mosque at Keng Cheow Street, if not for the fact that it is the oldest mosque in Singapore. It is located in the Singapore River Planning Area, within the Central Area, Singapore's central business district, and a short distance from the Tan Si Chong Su Temple. Masjid Omar Kampong Melaka was established in 1820, one year after Stamford Raffles landed. It was rebuilt in 1855 and again in 1981-1982, and is administered by the Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura.
Sited to the south of the Singapore River, Masjid Omar Kampong Melaka is located within Kampong Malacca, an area designated by Stamford Raffles for a Malay settlement in his 1822 Town Plan. As a result, Arabs, Jawi-Peranakans, Indonesians and Malays settled there. Today only some traces of their settlement is still apparent, having been washed away by development in the past few decades.
Masjid Omar Kampong Melaka was named after Syed Omar bin Ali Aljunied, an Arab merchant from Palembang, who was the mosque's founder. His son, Syed Abdullah bin Omar Aljunied, was instrumental in rebuilding the mosque in 1855. The Aljunied family was one of the three wealthiest Arab families in Singapore — the other two being the Alkaffs and the Alsagoffs; they were philanthropists who generously supported the establishment of schools, hospitals and mosques, as well as sponsoring religious events. Besides Masjid Omar, Syed Alwi Road in Serangoon and Aljunied Road in Aljunied were named after members of this family.
The original Masjid Omar was just a temporary timber structure. Syed Abdullah bin Omar Aljunied had it rebuilt in bricks in 1855 when a new road through Kampong Malacca was built, in order to house a larger congregation of worshippers. Unlikr other mosques, Masjid Omar Kampong Melaka did not have a minaret for over a hundred years. Its minaret was only erected in 1985.
Today, the simple mosque building has a seating capacity of 1,000 people, and is the focal point for Muslim office workers during daily and Friday prayers.
