Don’t erase our past, leave our road names alone!
Mariam Mokhtar, The Ant Daily
Deputy Federal Territories Minister Datuk M Loga Bala claimed that it was the Ruler’s Council which had requested the renaming of certain roads in Kuala Lumpur.
Is that so? Malaysians are not simpletons. Renaming roads causes a lot of distress and inconvenience but one supposes that those at the top, will never know the suffering of the people. Dropping hints that the sultans had requested the name change precludes discussion and resistance from the public; people will be afraid to object, for fear they may be accused of being seditious.
In 2008, government officials received a public backlash when they suggested the renaming of Jalan Silibin in Ipoh, and the renaming of Jalan Alor in Kuala Lumpur. Today, the government has said that the road names are a request from the royals. Of course, these minor government officials would say that. Name dropping is another terrible Malaysian trait.
How do we know that this knee jerk reaction, to name roads after monarchs, was genuinely a royal request? How does the rakyat know that it is not an Umno-Baru ploy to appease the sultans, without consulting the rakyat? Is this another of Umno-Baru’s many political manoeuvres?
This is the 21st Century and people are better educated and more courageous. They have the intellect to question an odd request, which is both expensive and unnecessary.
Loga Bala is aware that Umno-Baru has refined the use of the three Rs over the years, so that any mention of the phrase “kehendak Sultan” (royal decree), is just like the phrase “it is written in the Koran and hadith”, ensures compliance. The rakyat is conditioned to obey, without question, for fear of punishment. Umno-Baru may try to stretch the patience of the rakyat but even patience has its limits.
Has Loga Bala decided who will pick up the tab for the name change? Companies will suffer because of the extra cost of changing letterheads, name cards and addresses in the business directory, livelihoods will be affected, maps will have to be altered or reprinted, taxi drivers will have to mentally register this name change and visitors will get confused. The Tourism Malaysia staff can barely remember any places of interest, in Malaysia, so can they be expected to remember other changes?
Loga Bala could pass on the administration costs for the name change, to the Rulers’ Council. The rakyat has enough to worry about, with the increase in price of ordinary goods and services, without this extra hassle.
Is Loga Bala particularly obtuse? He said that “the new changes would not involve any costs for the ministry or the city hall”. Any name change will waste valuable taxpayers’ money. The costs will be passed down to the rakyat. The public will bear the brunt of this idiotic decision.
Loga Bala’s apparent ignorance, of the extra cost to city hall, reflects the growing disconnect between the higher echelons of power and the downtrodden rakyat. The rich get richer, the stupid get denser and the poor get more desperate. The rulers and the Umno-Baruputra elite appear to live on a different planet, from the rakyat.
We may never know who mooted the idea of the road name change but it just shows that the person, or people behind it are conceited. There are major road problems in KL and nationwide, that need immediate attention, because of the effects of flooding, poor drainage, overcrowding, bad illumination, missing signs, faded road markings etc.
Why would anyone want to rename the roads? Many road names of historical significance, of people and places which gave Malaysians their cultural identity, have been obliterated by Umno-Baru. Is this renaming exercise another attempt to erase our history? Is Umno-Baru ashamed of the colonial past? Are they afraid of the comparison with the more efficient past? Is it because the government wants change just for the sake of change? Or is it another sandiwara?
Has Loga Bala tried to remember the long and complex names of the Malaysian sultans, some of whom are a mouthful? Can anyone imagine the voice activated, automated GPS system coping? It will take so long for the GPS to read out the proposed road names, that the driver will miss the next turning. Instead of being pleased, consumers will be furious.
In Ipoh, several arterial roads have been renamed, but most people know the roads by their old names. According to one taxi driver, “The sultan and members of his family have road names given to them, but I cannot remember them at all. Too confusing. Too long. Many people use the old names anyway. Everyone knows Hugh Low Street, Brewster Road, Tambun Road and Tiger Lane”
A KL taxi driver said, “Traffic in KL is bad. Would anyone like to be remembered by a jam-packed, pot-holed, dusty and polluted road?”
Why does Umno-Baru think that road-naming is the only way of honouring the royals?
Why not call a new building, the new wing of a hospital, a scholarship fund, a bursary or some other white elephant, after this exalted person?
A more fitting tribute would be to rename the Petronas Twin Towers or the Genting Casino.
