Malay Muslims in Hong Kong early/mid 20th century?

Submitted by pueneg on Mon, 10/21/2024 - 02:22

Hello Community,

I'm new here and thought this might be the place to find clues to a rather niche topic I'm researching on.

I'm basically looking into certain Islamic rituals/practices associated with local-born Indian Muslims a.k.a "local boys". What has come up time and again is a certain connection to Malaysia/Southeast Asia. Not only has the texts they "chant"  in one of these rituals been very popular in SE Asia around end of 19th century/early 20th century, their melodies also sound very SE Asian, according to other Muslims. Among the community itself you often hear that someone has a Malay mother or relative, but the details stop there. We never hear about there being a Malay community here in the early days, but there seemed to have been some around nonetheless?

The practice of chanting is also supposedly associated with some of the names I have seen cropping up here, e.g. Kassim Mohamed Omar (who worked at HK Electric but subsequently became a manager at the Happy Valley Cemetery/Mosque and a keen organiser of such chanting) and a certain Bux (at whose home such chanting would be frequently organised). I was just wondering if anyone might be able to shed some light on the Malay connection the HK Indian Muslims might have had around the beginning of 20th century? Any thoughts would be very much appreciated!

I'm next to useless on this subject - because I'm relying on my emotional memory from the perspective of a 3-5 year old boy just prior to the demolition of the Ammar Mosque in Happy Valley in December 1978.  But I'm also keen to know what you know as it is a formative piece of my childhood. 

I do have vague memories of it. Having had a chat with my mum, the chanting sessions would take place on Sunday afternoons. People would sit on the floor, men in front, and the women at the back. The chants are various and are praises to God and the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), one version of which was essentially the Shahadah, chanted melodiously. The evening would be rounded off with a communal meal, winding up the narrow stairs to the top floor of the mosque. I have happy memories of playing in the mosque grounds, climbing around the twisted gnarled roots of the ancient trees near where the communal taps on the wall are used for ablution or filling the watering cans prior to visiting the graves. Funny how these happy peaceful communal memories are tied to a cemetery. 

I can't comment on any Malay sound/accent as I wouldn't know at that age. There are many different ways to recite the Quran as there are individuals but this particular reciter seems to come close to my emotional memory of how it sounded:

https://quran.com/reciters/3

I thought it might be a South Asian accent but this particular reciter is actually Saudi. So I don't know. But his cadence comes very close to what I remember.  

As far as I remember the 'local boys' were all one and same when viewed - we didn't think of so and so from a particular part of the world. Hong Kong might just be the only place in the world where both Sunni and Shia Muslims happily pray together without it being a big deal. Most 'local boys' would have had progenitors from British India in the 19th century even though many would erroneously refer to 'Pakistan' as their spiritual home - ridiculous as Pakistan never existed then. Many would sound and culturally be not too far off from the local Chinese, speaking fluent Cantonese (and English) and adopting many Chinese customs but would definitely not see themselves as Chinese. Some over time have adopted the habit of drinking alcohol (haram in Islam) but the one consistent thing is the avoidance of pork in the diet. Some words used in everyday conversations would be essentially sinofied versions of Urdu/Punjabi words. Honest to God, for much of my life many words I thought was Cantonese were not and would be unintelligible to a Cantonese speaker e.g. 'paisa' for money. Much like I as a Eurasian would speak 'chinglish' effortlessly that would be intelligible to someone fluent in Cantonese and English. 

The Sallehs were from Malaya. The Rafeeks oral history state the name was of Turkish origin and that the progenitor of the Rafeeks in Hong Kong was a merchant who had travelled to China and married a Chinese lady. One of his sons, Mohamed Rafeek (1872-1944) worked as an Indian and Malay interpreter and was the 6th Clerk at the Harbour Master's Office (appointed 1st December 1897 by the Hong Kong Governor) - so was he or his family from Malaya or was his mother, 'Leung Loi' (Cantonese speakers would know this could be an English transliteration of 'pretty girl') or formally known by her Muslim name 'Amina Rafeek' (1854-1941) was Malay Chinese? 

I knew Kassim Mohamed Omar (1905-2005) and he is a relation of mine. My mum used to work under his watchful care at the Hong Kong Electric Company during the 1960s. After the Ammar Mosque was torn down in December 1978 (to make way for the Aberdeen Tunnel as the flyover had to cut through part of the Muslim Cemetery due to the road being widened - some 220 graves had to be relocated in 1978 - including my greatgrandparents' graves), Kassim had an office at the cemetery in the 1980s but he worked there on a voluntary basis dealing with cemetery affairs and was not paid for his services. I have heard of the name 'Bux' but do not personally know them. 

I would be very much interested in any...any...information...you might dig up too. Are you based in Hong Kong? If so, the Islamic Union of Hong Kong would be worth contacting for your research purposes. They might have archival material and/or individuals who may enlighten you from a personal experience perspective. Get hold of them because as time marches on there are fewer and fewer of them. I would be the last generation that has direct personal memory of the Ammar Mosque at the Happy Valley Muslim Cemetery.

Thank you so much for sharing these memories! I am really glad to hear these from you. So little - next to nothing - has been written about this topic and the experiences surrounding it.

I am working on this chanting - the "maulood" - and have been in touch with a number of people with memories of the Ammar Mosque through the Islamic Union as well as the Chinese Muslim Cultural and Fraternal Association (until my recent departure from Hong Kong), with the hope of understanding how it was recited, the activities surrounding it, and how the "local boys" and Chinese Muslims interacted around it, especially when this was led by the likes of KM Omar (who I was told had an amazing voice) as well as the Chinese imams.

This being from such a long time ago, everyone will have different recollections about how things were: how it started (I was told Usuff and Kassim started it in their own house before it moved to the mosque, and that it often took place in other private houses too like at the Bux's; some others said it is from Indonesia, and some even claimed it was brought in from Canton); who were the lead reciters (was there also a certain Ismail besides the Mahomed Omars?); how often it took place (Prophet's Birthday, Bibi Fatima and a couple more other days during the year? Or more regularly on Saturday afternoons? What about during Thursday night Islamiyat classes?); how long they lasted for (a common trope is that they recited from Zuhr, break for Asr, and then continue until they finish the whole maulood book that whole last a few hours in total)...I have scanned copies of the old maulood text (from an undated copy printed in Arabic and Jawi-Malay in Singapore) as well as some recent recordings (well, they say they recite in more or less the same way as in the 50s/60s)

P.S. I have found some photos of the front of the Ammar Mosque from 1954 when it was newly rebuilt from the Old HK Newspaper Archive. It is permitted to post them here?

Yes, yes my mum referred to the chanting as "maulood". Can take hours. She used to recite them in her youth, also at bedtime before going to bed, but has now forgotten many of them. 

I remember the communal meals at the end in the evening/night. The noise of chatter. Fusion food, curries. Peeled orange slices at the end. Random memories from a very young childhood. 

Love to see photos of the mosque as I've scoured the internet with no luck - just distant fuzzy shots of the building when Happy Valley, Cemeteries or Racecourse are the subject matter. There used to be an entry to the Muslim Cemetery on the Wong Nai Chung side of the road. 

I would like this cultural history documented before everyone dies so you are doing an amazing job. It's a part of HK history where next to nothing has been written about and will be rapidly lost forever. 

Yes, I've heard Kassim recite the Quran. Beautiful voice. Even to my child ears it was hypnotic and haunting. 

Here are the news-clippings: the first one is the old Ammar Mosque in 1954 that was to be torn down that year. The next three are reports of the opening of the new mosque in 1955.

There are also photos of its interior in the HK Islamic Youth Association's 25th Anniversary Booklet: https://hkiya.org.hk/media/normal/594_HKIYA_-_25_-_Anniversary_-_Report… 

Ammar Mosque to be demolished from Kung Sheung Daily News 1954-11-23
Ammar Mosque to be demolished from Kung Sheung Daily News 1954-11-23, by pueneg
Ammar Mosque from Kung Sheung Daily News 1955-04-16
Ammar Mosque from Kung Sheung Daily News 1955-04-16, by pueneg
Ammar Mosque from Kung Sheung Evening News 1955-04-17
Ammar Mosque from Kung Sheung Evening News 1955-04-17, by pueneg
Ammar Mosque from Wa Kiu Yat Po 1955-04-18
Ammar Mosque from Wa Kiu Yat Po 1955-04-18, by pueneg

This is beyond cool. Random stuff like the checkerboard floor, fans and hanging lights on the ceiling, the folding stools at the communal meals - weird what random details about the building the young brain retains. Recognised my cousin Mohammed Rumjahn in one of the (later) photos. 

Now a major pain in the arse request - can you or someone translate the Chinese from the series of newspaper clippings? I want to see if I can update any information on the mosque building (which I had previously created a node for here on gwulo). Great there is also a photo of the predecessor mosque - I’ve never seen that before. Thanks so much pueneg! 

Here are some crude translations made mainly through Google translate with some touch-up:

 

Kung Sheung Evening News, 1954-11-23

Happy Valley Mosque to be demolished and renovated

The mosque in front of the Happy Valley Muslim Cemetery, which has a history of more than 90 years, has been demolished and rebuilt into a new two-story building. It will be constructed by Fook Wo Construction Company and is scheduled to be completed next spring.

The mosque was built in 1870 and covers an area of ​​more than 2,000 square feet. The building is very simple, therefore Muslims in Hong Kong decided to renovate it. At the same time, the corner wall of the cemetery was modified. There were two mango trees next to the mosque. After an investigation by the Agriculture and Forestry Department yesterday (18th), it was considered that it would hinder the construction of the new temple and was allowed to be cut down. However, some woods can still be preserved nearby. The new mosque will have an area of ​​more than 2,000 square feet. The ground floor will be a large hall, used for prayer gatherings. The upstairs only occupies half of the back  (that is, the second floor area will be just over 1,000 square feet), and will be used as a lecture hall for Muslims. Next to it is an balcony, with steel windows on all sides. Behind the mosque are toilets [wudhu facilities?] for men and women, and a corpse washing room [cold room ghazal?]. When a Muslim dies, Islamic regulations stipulate that the body must be washed and then buried in the cemetery. Pictured here is the start of demolition of the mosque.

 

Kung Sheung Evening News, 1955-04-16

The Hall of the Happy Valley Mosque will be unveiled tomorrow: all work will be completed by the end of the month

A new two-story mosque on the west side of the Happy Valley Muslim Cemetery will be completed by the end of this month.

The construction cost of the temple amounted to 92,000 dollars, covering an area of ​​2,500 square feet. The ground floor to the mosque has been completed and the official opening is scheduled for tomorrow at 10 am.

The Happy Valley Muslim Cemetery was established in 1870. At that time, a single-story mosque was also built. However, because the mosque had been eroded by wind and rain for a long time and was affected by bombing during the war, it was decided to rebuild it.

 

Kung Sheung Evening News, 1955-04-17

The opening ceremony of the new mosque in Happy Valley was held this morning: over 300 Muslims attended

The 80-year-old mosque on Wong Nai Chung Road in Happy Valley, Hong Kong, was demolished at the end of last year and converted into a new two-storey building. It has been completed. The opening ceremony was held at 10:30 this morning. Muslims from Hong Kong and Kowloon attended the opening ceremony. There were more than 300 people, and the scene was solemn and lively.

Sa Yi [Sayid?] officiated the opening. Before the  opening, Madad, Chairman of the Islamic Union, gave an opening speech, saying: “The completion of the new mosque is due to the donations of enthusiastic Muslims, that got us to our achievement today. After Sa Yi officiated the opening, a chanting ceremony was held. All enthusiastic Muslim attendees took off their shoes and walked into the mosque to chant. The chanting ceremony was presided over by Cheung. All the participating Muslims, men, women, old and young, were in the mosque. They knelt down to worship outside and chanted at the same time. The chanting was completed at about 11 o'clock, and the tea party began.

The new temple covers an area of ​​more than 2,000 square feet, with a two-story building. The downstairs is a prayer hall and the upper floor is a holy place for Muslim leaders to worship. The mosque is a very new building, built with concrete and with steel windows all around. The total construction cost is over $90,000. This morning, various flags were hung on the yellow walls of the mosque for celebration.

 

Wa Kiu Yat Po, 1955-04-18

Happy Valley Mosque opens

The new mosque in Happy Valley held an opening ceremony at 10:30 yesterday morning. Hundreds of people came to the church. After the opening ceremony was presided over by the person in charge, Sa Yi, they entered the halland stood in a circle to chant and pray. At eight o'clock last night, a praise ceremony was held again, which was sacred and solemn. All construction work on the mosque will be completed by the end of the month. The building is two stories high. The lower floor is a hall, and the upper floor will be used for classrooms and reading. There are also men's and women's changing rooms, bathrooms, corpse cleaning rooms, and storage spaces. The total construction cost is over $90,000.

Thanks pueneg! Lots of useful information there. I love how collaboration have resurrected what to me was almost effectively a lost topic. So it was ancient mango trees. At some point I’ll try and go through the English language newspapers around those dates to see if anything was reported.