Mosque in Singapore Granted Funds for Restoration
The Hajjah Fatimah Mosque stands tall in Kampong Glam, holding its own in an area known for iconic buildings such as the Sultan Mosque.
It is one of the oldest mosques in Singapore and is affectionately nicknamed the Leaning Tower of Singapore due to a slight tilt to its minaret tower.
But at more than 170 years old, the mosque requires a lot of care.
Helping with that is the National Monuments Fund (NMF).
The Hajjah Fatimah Mosque is one of 20 national monuments which received a total of $2.24 million from the fund for restoration and maintenance works in 2020 and 2021.
The 20 of them represent about two-thirds of the monuments eligible for funding, said the National Heritage Board (NHB) in a statement on Friday (Nov 12).
Launched in 2008, the fund is a co-funding scheme administered by the NHB. It supports monuments that are owned and managed by non-profit or religious organisations, which currently comprise 31 of Singapore's 73 monuments.
Funds are disbursed for two types of work - maintenance and restoration - and the disbursement quantum is assessed based on the severity and urgency of the work required.
NHB also assesses applications based on the monument owners' ability to finance the required work by considering the owners' financial needs and the sources of funding available to the owner.
Mr Chern Jia Ding, senior assistant director for architecture and inspectorate at NHB, said disbursed funds cover at least 50 per cent of the cost of the works.
"If we go anything below 50 per cent, it doesn't give (monument owners) enough capital to start works, so that will not make any sense," he said.
The board said the fund has evolved based on the needs of monument owners and occupiers over the years, and in response to their feedback.
For instance, more types of works have been added to the list of qualifying works for maintenance funding based on feedback.
This year, fire protection maintenance works were added to the list.
Ms Jean Wee, director of NHB's Preservation of Sites and Monuments division, said this change was made after the board saw the extent of the damage that fire caused to Paris' Notre-Dame cathedral in 2019.
In Parliament earlier this month, changes to the Preservation of Monuments Act - which lays out laws to protect monuments - were debated and passed.
Source: Straits Times
