IPOH: It was exactly seven years ago when the DAP made a big hue and cry over the Ipoh city council renaming Jalan Koo Chong Kong to Jalan Tabung Haji.

Party supremo Lim Kit Siang was apparently so upset that he called upon Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohd Tajol Rosli Ghazali to sack the whole city council for committing the ultimate Malaysian offence.

"The menteri besar should dissolve the Ipoh city council -- as a lesson to all city, municipal and district councillors to guard against the ultimate Malaysian offence of total insensitivity and lack of pride and respect for Malaysian history and the country's multiracial heritage," he said.

Following protests from numerous quarters, the city council buckled under pressure and subsequently reinstated the original name after a few days.

The road was named after Tan Sri Koo Chong Kong who was appointed Perak police chief in 1975 to quell the communist threat in the state.
He was shot dead in his car by two terrorists while on his way home on Nov 13, 1975 and was accorded a hero's funeral in Seremban attended by 20,000 people, including Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein.

Hill Road between the city police headquarters and the newly-built Tabung Haji building was renamed after him in 1985 to acknowledge his contribution and sacrifice.

Since early this month, the same scenario is slowly taking shape but this time around it is the DAP that is pushing to rename Jalan Silibin after the former DAP state party chairman P. Patto.

This has not gone down well with the residents and business community there who viewed the party as trying to bulldoze its way through despite DAP representatives producing a street survey claiming that more than 70 per cent of Jalan Silibin folks agreed with the proposal.

As protests from the various quarters grew, the Pakatan Rakyat state government finally relented and said that it would hear the people's views first before deciding on the matter.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin has already agreed in principle to honour the late Patto by renaming one of the roads in Little India.

State DAP leaders, however, seem-ed reluctant to accept Nizar's offer, perhaps due to the prominence, or the lack of it, of the road in question.

"Nizar has offered to rename Lorong Lahat after Patto and I think the DAP leaders are not going to agree as they want something more prominent for him," said a source.

With the state government planning to hold a forum on this issue, a community leader noted that while Patto might deserve to be honoured, subjecting his name to public discussion and possible ridicule should be avoided at all costs.

He said that placing a monument at the roundabout at Jalan Silibin would be more meaningful than renaming the road which has now become a controversy.

This might seem the rational way to solve the problem and save the state government from being accused of being under the thumb of the DAP.

As the state chief executive officer, Nizar must put his foot down and resolve the matter once and for all.

After all, he has made the DAP an offer and should not be seen acceding to their whims and fancies.

Former Datuk Bandar Datuk Talaat Husain, moments after putting back the "Jalan Koo Chong Kong" signboard in 2001, humbly said:

"It was an oversight on our part...we are now aware of the sensitivity involved and we didn't have any intention to offend anyone."

Is the Pakatan Rakyat state government willing to do the same?