Masjid Tanah

Masjid Tanah
Masjid Tanah
Mukim
Country	Malaysia
State	Malacca
District	Alor Gajah

Middle of Masjid Tanah town with its historic clock tower, called the Big Ben. A local team in the 1970s also carried the same name.

Al-Khawarizmi Astronomy Complex

Tanjung Bidara Beach

Pengkalan Balak Beach

Masjid Tanah is a mukim in Alor Gajah District,^[1] Malacca, Malaysia.^[2] The town has been inhabited since mid 1500 AD starting from a small village. It is one of the largest towns in Malacca. In the late 1990s, there was a real estate boom in Masjid Tanah when the government decided to build a Petronas oil refinery in nearby Sungai Udang.

It has many beaches in Pengkalan Balak, 7 km away, and is close to Kuala Sungai Baru.

History[]

The name of Masjid Tanah comes from the mosque (masjid) that was made from soil (tanah) by a sheikh from Gujarat around 1800. This mosque was also built by a local named Hj. Sulong bin Sibeng. Most of the mosque that was built from soil was demolished later but recreated in 1951. This mosque was shared by several kampungs (villages).

Each kampung has their own leader (ketua kampung). Most of the kampungs are named after plant species. This tradition of taking the name based on plants is probably influenced by the concept of the name of Malaka itself. Malaka is in fact a name of a tree.

Masjid Tanah, located in Alor Gajah municipal district, is very near to Negeri Sembilan. Hence, most of its people originate from Negeri Sembilan. They usually carry Negeri Sembilan or Minang accent, and shared the same culture of adat perpatih. In some kampung the "culture of doing thing together" or "gotong royong" was still implemented. But most of the culture is now forgotten. The young preferred to work in urban areas and the houses in the kampungs are mostly uninhabited.

Educational institutions[]

Masjid Tanah Community College (Malay: Kolej Komuniti Masjid Tanah)
MARA College of High Skills (Malay: Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi MARA)
National Youth Institute of High Skills (IKTBN; Malay: Institut Kemahiran Tinggi Belia Negara)
Malacca Matriculation College, (Malay: Kolej Matrikulasi Melaka)^[3]
Poultry Institute of Technology (ITU; Malay: Institut Teknologi Unggas)^[4]

Sport facilities[]

Hang Jebat Sailing Centre, Pengkalan Balak^[5]

Tourist attractions[]

Al-Khawarizmi Astronomy Complex - An observatory owned by the Malacca Islamic Religious Council. The astronomy complex is named after astronomer Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi.^[6]^[7] It was developed in different stages: the first being the observatory established in 2002, followed by the planetarium in 2005 and finally the training centre in 2008.^[8] The total cost for its development was RM20 million.^[9]
Tanjung Bidara Beach
Turtle Conservation and Information Centre
Pengkalan Balak Beach - A beach which features turtle sculptures.^[10]

Notable natives[]

Datuk Abu Seman Yusop, the former Malaysian Deputy of Home Minister (2009–2013), comes from this town. He is also the former PR for Masjid Tanah. After the 2013 Malaysian General Election, he was succeeded by Mas Ermieyati Samsudin (2013–current), the first female PR for Masjid Tanah.