"We are planning a simple yet beautiful mosque, one that will be in harmony with nature and the people," said Datuk Dr Fadzli Cheah Abdullah, the key figure of the project.
While the design of the RM10 million facility has yet to be finalised, the impression on the drawing board is enough to excite Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
Work on the mosque, to be built on a 3,776 sq m gazetted area in Taman Tasek Jaya near the Ipoh Selatan exit of the North-South Expressway, is expected to start by end of the year. The mosque is expected to be completed in two years.
Dr Fadzli, who is the president of Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association (Macma) of Ipoh and a neurosurgeon, said Macma and Taman Tasek Jaya Mosque Committee had decided to keep construction costs low by using local materials.
"The important facet is the design, which will be the distinctive feature of the mosque.
"While the roof will be the first Chinese feature visible from afar, the entire structure of the mosque will have motifs and carvings that are intrinsically Chinese in character."
He said the committee would get expert views on Muslim Chinese design from China and locally.
Besides the main prayer hall, which will accommodate about 1,000 adherents, the mosque will also comprise an administration wing.
The wing, Dr Fadzli said, would house classrooms, a health clinic, a library, an information centre and a counselling unit for Muslims and non-Muslims.
He added that sermons would be held in Bahasa Malaysia for the first few months until the committee acquired the services of a qualified Chinese-speaking imam from China.
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