DDHK.ORG - As many as thousands of people signed an online petition entitled "Save the Sheung Shui Mosque and Home for the Aged Project" on the change.org website. The petition contains an invitation to ask the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam, to support the construction of a mosque and nursing home in Sheung Shui which will be named the King Abdullah Islamic Center and Elderly Home.
Until Thursday (10/9/2020), at 11:45 am Hong Kong time, 3.246 were recorded to support and sign the petition made by the United Muslim Association of Hong Kong (UMAH), on Monday (7/9/2020). The petition, which was made in English and Cantonese, also contains an invitation for the public to contact district representatives in their respective regions and ask for their support, as well as watch and share videos on the link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36NN4_kOE6k&feature=youtu.be to raise awareness about the need for construction of mosques and nursing homes in Sheung Shui's.
“An urgent plea to save the Sheung Shui Mosque and the Elderly Care Center. Greetings all. We need everyone's urgent help to save our project. This is very important. If not, we will lose land for our mosque and elderly care center, ”read a call circulating among Hong Kong residents, including among Indonesians living and working in Negeri Beton.
The invitation that circulated also shared a link https://www.change.org/p/chief-executive-of-hk-sar-support-the-sheung-shui-masjid-elderly-home-project?use_react=false to provide support to the petition made.
“This is an urgent call to the Hong Kong public to show our support for the Sheung Shui Mosque and Home for the Aged project. We ask everyone to petition the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Ms. Carrie Lam, to use her authority for the benefit of minority communities and return the land to UMAH for continuing hoarding and construction work as a legitimate user for social and community purposes, ”wrote UMAH in the petition.
Through this petition, UMAH informed the chronology of the petition. During the past 2 decades, said UMAH, this project faced countless challenges. Finally, landfilling work began in August 2020 as a form of project sustainability.
However, on September 1 and 2, 2020, the Hong Kong Land Department visited the site and ordered all construction work to be stopped immediately. The Department of Land also gives an ultimatum, by September 17, the land must be vacated. The department stated that the land grant agreement was canceled.
In fact, UMAH explained in this petition, it was only two months ago that the Hong Kong Building Department approved the UMAH application to start stockpiling work, and the contractor had started working on it at the project site. “This is a very unfavorable situation and we need everyone's help immediately! This is the reason we need your help, ”wrote UMAH.
UMAH explained that this project had stalled for so long. In 2010-2019, UMAH underwent a restructuring which was then successfully completed in 2019. The project was also hampered by non-stop demonstrations that disrupted Hong Kong's economy throughout 2019 and the Covid-19 outbreak that began in 2020.
"All these unusual and uncontrollable incidents delayed the project," said UMAH. “Please spread the word, raise awareness about the matter as much as possible and encourage your friends and family to show support. Let's peacefully voice our concerns. "
It is no less important to know, emphasized UMAH, that the Sheung Shui Mosque and the Nursing Home in Sheung Shui are not exclusive to Muslims, but also to the local Hong Kong community in general. "Through this project, Muslims have become an integral part of Hong Kong, and it will become a symbol of the harmonious relationship that exists between local Muslims and local Chinese," wrote UMAH. [DDHK. ORG]
