$15m upgrade for Masjid Alkaff Kampung Melayu; new mosque to be built in Tampines North from mid-2027
Acting Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim (right) visiting Masjid Alkaff Kampung Melayu, as part of his engagement with the community.
SINGAPORE - Upgrading work on the Alkaff Kampung Melayu mosque in Bedok North has begun and is expected to last more than two years at a cost of $15 million.
Separately, construction of a mosque in Tampines North is expected to start in mid-2027 and be completed in 2029.
Acting Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Faishal Ibrahim made these announcements during a visit to Alkaff Kampung Melayu Mosque on July 25.
The upgrading of Masjid Alkaff Kampung Melayu Mosque started in April and is expected to be completed in two phases over 26 months, said the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) in a statement on July 25.
The works will improve accessibility with features such as barrier-free amenities, and optimise space in the 30-year-old mosque.
'The current layout and infrastructure need to be refreshed and optimised to better serve the needs of our growing congregants and the aged,' said Muis, adding that post-upgrade it will be able to accommodate up to 3,200 congregants, up from the current 3,000.
The project will include expanding the main prayer hall on the first floor to include new wings with classrooms and administrative offices, as well as installing a new passenger lift and refreshing the building's facade.
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Singapore SMRT to pay lower fine of $2.4m for EWL disruption; must invest at least $600k to boost reliability
Singapore MRT service changes needed to modify 3 East-West Line stations on Changi Airport stretch: LTA
Asia Live: Thailand-Cambodia border clashes continue for second day
Singapore Etomidate found in blood of 2 people involved in fatal Punggol Road accident in May: HSA
Singapore More students to get Smart Buddy watches; most schools have gone cashless
Singapore Vape disposal bins at 23 CCs for users to surrender e-vaporisers, without facing penalties
Business Microsoft Singapore managing director Lee Hui Li dies while on sabbatical
Singapore Kopi, care and conversation: How this 20-year-old helps improve the well-being of the elderly
During the upgrading period, the mosque will still be operational for daily and Friday prayers, with a limited space for about 1,000 congregants, added Muis.
An artist's impression of the main prayer hall of Masjid Alkaff Kampung Melayu.
PHOTO: MUIS
Masjid Alkaff Kampung Melayu is also actively raising funds for the $15 million project through multiple avenues, such as religious talks, charity drives and donation boxes placed in mosques islandwide.
Meanwhile, the construction of a mosque in Tampines North that had been put on hold during the Covid-19 pandemic will begin in mid-2027.
Prof Faishal announced that design development of the new mosque, located along Tampines North Drive 5, will kick off by the end of 2025.
The larger project will be overseen by the management board of the nearby Darul Ghufran Mosque, he said.
Former minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli had said in March that the new Tampines North mosque will ease the load of Darul Ghufran – the only mosque in Tampines and Singapore's biggest.
Acting Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim (right) interacting with worshippers during his visit at Masjid Alkaff Kampung Melayu.
PHOTO: BERITA HARIAN
While the mosque, located next to Our Tampines Hub, can accommodate up to 5,500 worshippers, Mr Masagos said it was overstretched by having to conduct two to three sessions during Friday prayers and Hari Raya prayers.
Muis said that Darul Ghuffran mosque's management board would lend their expertise and experience in mosque management, as well as their familiarity with the Tampines area.
Speaking to the media after Friday prayers, Associate Professor Faishal said that mosques are vital institutions that play a central role in fulfilling the socio-religious needs of the Muslim community.
Earlier in July, he had announced that Darussalam Mosque in Clementi will undergo a $10.3 million upgrade from September, while a site for the future mosque serving the new Tengah town has been reserved along Forest Drive.
'We welcome feedback and views from the community on how we can shape the two new upcoming mosques together,' said Prof Faishal, who is also Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs.
'This is an exciting chapter for Muslim residents in the Tampines area, and I look forward to building these mosques together – a space that will serve many generations to come.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
21 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Trump's sharp India criticism on tariffs, Russia oil corner Modi as rift deepens
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox - Any expectation of the camaraderie that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoyed with US President Donald Trump during the latter's first term in office – united in part over the common threat of China – has all but evaporated. India underestimated just how transactional Mr Trump would be in his second term in power, as he has made little distinction between friends and adversaries. Ties have unpredictably and quickly gone south as Mr Trump has torn into India over its long-standing ties with Russia and the slow pace of negotiations for an India-US trade deal. The strain in US-India ties is a challenge for Mr Modi, who also faces domestic calls not to cave into Mr Trump's demands on trade and oil imports from Russia. India has benefitted from cheap Russian energy imports, which the US leader claims is helping to fund Russia's invasion of Ukraine . Mr Trump's vow to 'substantially raise' tariffs on Indian exports to the US from the already substantial 25 per cent because of New Delhi's Russian oil imports, is an indication of his administration's priorities in achieving broader geopolitical goals, say analysts. 'This (oil sanctions) is obviously a pressure tactic the US is using on Russia to get an outcome of its choice in the Ukraine war. We are collateral damage,' Mr Ashok Malik, a partner at the Asia Group business consultancy, told The Straits Times. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore More train rides taken in first half-year, but overall public transport use stays below 2019 levels Singapore BlueSG needs time to develop software, refresh fleet, say ex-insiders after winding-down news Asia Cambodia-Thailand border clash a setback for Asean: Vivian Balakrishnan Singapore 'She had a whole life ahead of her': Boyfriend mourns Yishun fatal crash victim Singapore Doctor hounded ex-girlfriend, threatened to share her intimate photos, abducted her off street Asia Trump's transactional foreign policy fuels 'US scepticism' in Taiwan Business Women on corporate boards give firms a competitive advantage, says Australian Governor-General Singapore CEO of sports car distributor accused of offences including multiple counts of false trading 'I think things are very challenging at this juncture. It is the most challenging in a long, long time,' Mr Malik said. Mr Trump came into power promising he would end the war in Ukraine on his first day in office. But a long-term ceasefire has not materialised, and Russia has instead intensified its strikes on Ukraine, much to Mr Trump's frustration. India-Russia-US nexus 'India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits,' Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Aug 4. 'They don't care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine. Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA.' Mr Trump has lumped Russia and India together, calling them 'dead economies' in another Truth Social post on July 31, despite the fact that India is the world's fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP after the US, China and Germany. India has a longstanding relationship with Russia dating ba ck to the Cold War, and is the among the largest importer of Russian oil along with China . It imported about 1.75 million barrels a day from January to June 2025, up 1 per cent from a year ago, according to Reuters. On Aug 4, the Ministry of External Affairs called the US President and European Union 's targeting of India for buying Russian oil 'unjustified and unreasonable.' 'India began importing from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict. The United States at that time actively encouraged such imports by India for strengthening global energy markets stability,' the MEA said in a statement. 'India's imports are meant to ensure predictable and affordable energy costs to the Indian consumer. They are a necessity compelled by the global market situation. However, it is revealing that the very nations criticizing India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia. ' The European Union had imposed sanctions on Russian-backed Indian refiner Nayara and banned the import of refined oil made from Russian crude. In particular, New Delhi called out the United States for its continual imports from Russia of 'uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear industry, palladium for its EV industry, fertilisers as well as chemicals.' Mr Trump is not the first US president to disapprove of India's ties with Iran and Russia. But previous US leaders like Mr Joe Biden and Mr Barack Obama chose to look the other way due to the strategic calculation of India's importance as a fast-growing economy a nd as a counter to China in America's Indo-Pacific strategy. In any case, India's ties with Russia are also not what they were once, as Russia has drawn closer to China and Pakistan, while India has grown closer to the West. The South Asian giant has also been diversifying its defence weapon purchases to include products from the US and Israel. But that doesn't mean India can walk away from the Russia relationship as desired by Mr Trump, according to Mr Nandan Unnikrishnan, a Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi-based think tank. 'We need warm relations. India is a growing economy; it is going to consume natural resources and Russia is a country that has every element in huge abundance. We will end up buying a lot of resources,' he said. US-India tariff negotiations Mr Trump is also frustrated that a trade deal with India to his liking has so far not materialised. He has used tariffs to force countries that have a trade surplus with the US into what he claims is a more reciprocal bilateral trade relationship. The US is India's largest export market, with exports reaching US$86.51 billion (S$111.37 billion) from April 2024 to March 2025. India's imports from the US were US$45.33 billion for the same period, according to Indian government figures . While both countries are still locked in negotiations, New Delhi has refused to grant the concessions that the Trump administration is seeking, including the opening up of heavily protected agriculture and dairy sectors to US imports. More than 60 per cent of the Indian population depends on these two sectors for their livelihoods in some form or another. Farmers have opposed opening up of the agriculture and dairy sectors , arguing they would not be able to withstand competition from US agriculture. Unlike US farms, India's farms are small, fragmented and hardly mechanised . In another post on Truth Social on July 30 , Mr Trump criticised India for imposing the most 'strenuous and obnoxious' tariffs in the world. India's refusal to give in to Trump for now may also be seen as a recognition that it is not just trade interests which are at stake. 'Trump has not only unleashed a trade war but is also deploying commercial instruments for geopolitical ends,' India's former foreign secretary Shyam Saran wrote in The Indian Express newspaper on Aug 4. 'These actions threaten India's core interests and its ability to follow a policy of strategic autonomy, which every government, irrespective of its political colour, has remained wedded to since Independence,' he said. 'We should not treat the current disruption in India-US relations as just a trade dispute. It is much more than that.' Mr Modi's response to Mr Trump's belligerent language, which has pushed the Indian prime minister into a corner domestically, took a nationalistic tone. 'The world economy is facing instability and uncertainty. In such times, countries are focusing solely on their own interests. India, too, is on the path to becoming the world's third-largest economy and must remain alert to its own economic priorities,' Mr Modi said in his constituency of Varanasi on Aug 2, even before Mr Trump's latest escalation. 'At a time when the world is going through uncertainty, let us take a pledge to sell only Swadeshi (made in India) goods from our shops and markets. Promoting made-in-India goods will be the truest service to the country.' Political watchers noted that it would be very difficult for the Indian Prime Minister to give any large concessions in the trade deal, given the growing anger within India towards Mr Trump. Even the right-wing Hindu nationalist ecosystem, which has been very supportive of the US president, is angry at what it perceives as a series of other slights to India. This includes Mr Trump's statements on how he engineered the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, after the neighbours were embroiled in a military conflict over a terror attack in Kashmir, and Mr Trump's subsequent hosting of Pakistan's Army chief Asim Muneer in the White House. 'Mr Modi doesn't have much space to manoeuvre on the trade deal. The economic and political costs of accepting US demand are something this government will find difficult to swallow,' said Dr Biswajit Dhar, a trade expert and former professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University. 'We have to wait and watch. What the Trump administration has done is push India into a corner.'
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Trump says he will meet China's Xi if a trade deal is struck
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox U.S. President Donald Trump attends a bilateral meeting with China's President Xi Jinping during the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the U.S. was close to a trade deal with China and that he would meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping before the end of the year if an agreement is struck. "He asked for a meeting, and I'll end up having a meeting before the end of the year most likely, if we make a deal. If we don't make a deal, I'm not going to have a meeting," Trump told CNBC in an interview referring to China's Xi. "We're getting very close to a deal. We're getting along with China very well," Trump said. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week he believed the U.S. had the "makings of a deal" with China after officials from the two countries met in Stockholm in a bid to resolve economic disputes aimed at extending their truce on a trade war by three months. China is facing an August 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with the U.S. administration, after Beijing and Washington reached preliminary deals in May and June to end escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and a cut-off of rare earth minerals. Without a deal, global supply chains could face renewed turmoil from U.S. duties snapping back to triple-digit levels that would amount to a bilateral trade embargo. Speaking to CNBC, Trump also said his administration would soon impose tariffs on U.S. imports of pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and chips, which is expected to impact China. REUTERS
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
China allocates funds to support agriculture recovery in flood and drought-hit areas
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox A flood-damaged road is seen alongside a swollen river following heavy rains in Miyun district, on the outskirts of Beijing, on July 29. BEIJING – China has recently allocated more than one billion yuan (S$180 million) to capital Beijing and several other areas to support recovery of agricultural production hit by floods and drought, state broadcaster CCTV said on Aug 5 . Funds were allocated to Beijing, the northern Chinese province of Hebei and the Inner Mongolia region, as well as Guangdong province in the south, to replant crops, drain farmland and repair flood-stricken infrastructure. Other areas, including Shandong, Hubei and Henan provinces in eastern and central China also received subsidies to support their drought-stricken agricultural industry, according to CCTV. The North China Plain, a vast area that encompasses provinces such as Henan, Hebei and Shandong, has been hit by persistently high temperatures and unseasonally low precipitation since July. The area of crops affected by water shortfalls has been greater than a year earlier and rainfall is expected to remain low in August, with drought conditions potentially worsening in some areas, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs warned on Aug 4. Further south, in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, rice-growing regions have been swamped by record rainfall. Henan province, a wheat-producing area known as China's granary, said it received 131.5 million yuan in funding from the central government on A ug 4 to help support its farming sector. That was double the amount that the central Chinese province mobilised on its own in mid-July and in early August to safeguard the autumn grain harvest, which accounts for about three quarters of the country's annual grain output. That brings total funds allocated to support the repair of wells, maintenance of irrigation equipment and construction of water projects to 260 million yuan since then, the Henan finance department said on its website on Aug 5 . China's autumn grain production faces significant risks and challenges from overlapping floods and droughts, the ministry said. The ministry has issued 34 measures to minimise yield losses in severely affected areas, stabilise production in mildly affected areas and increase output in unaffected areas, the statement on A ug 4 said. REUTERS
