Web Page Maker : Make your own web page easy!

Tenkasi in the early 1900 was a small village in the southern tip of Tamil Nadu.Tenkasians are Tamil speaking Muslims.Life in Tenkasi then depended mainly on weaving rice farming and other cottage industries.In 1910,some 50 Muslim families came to Singapore to seek better life and settle for good.Tenkasi now is a much developed town with all the modern facilities.Landmark of Tenkasi is the famous Kootralam Waterfalls.

Having settled in Singapore,the Tenkasians in Singapore formed a society in 1940 to serve the interest and well-being of their members.Tenkasi Muslim Benefit Society was one of the first Muslim societies to be registered by the government then.The Society operated from its registered office at 45,Cheng Cheok Street (off Tanjong Pagar Road).

The activities organised then include the following :

Officiating and gracing the marriages of members and their kin members
Percuniary aids to bereaved families upon death of a member or kin
Moulood recitation and religious lectures
Soccer tournaments
Kuntha (martial art)
Kollatam
Tuition

After World War Two,a Tamil primary school called The Siruvar Tamil Padasalai was officially opened at our premises with some 50 students.Unfortunately,the government refused permission to use the premises as a school and our desire to run a school was shortlived.Without much hesitation,we transfered the students to the UmarPulavar School and Neelambigai Tamil School.The Society's emphasis was to uplift the economic condition of its members and therefore placed more emphasis on education and tuition.Bursaries were also given to those who excelled in their studies.

In 1974,the Society was renamed Singapore Tenkasi Muslim Welfare Society (STMWS).Our contributions to the nation building and participation in national issues on Indians,Muslims and Singaporeans at large has earned respect of the relevant authorities.STMWS is one of the initiators of the historical amalgation of the various Tamil Muslim Associations namely Federation of Indian Muslims (FIM).STMWS encourages all Singaporeans to participate in its activities and works closely with other Muslim and Indian organisations like Muis, Mendaki, Sinda, FIM, UIMA and SKML.