GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government must be mindful of heritage and historical accuracy when reverting the names of roads, says the Penang Heritage Trust (PHT).
Khoo Salma Nasution, vice-president of PHT and author of the book, “Streets of George Town, Penang”, said the historical stakeholders must be consulted before roads were renamed to prevent confusion on the part of locals and tourists.
“They must engage with heritage bodies and experts to seek their feedback before deciding to change any names,” she told New Straits Times today.
“Names should not be changed for the sake of it.
“We welcome the move, but the historical records of the respective streets must be referred to and accurately represented before the names are changed.”
Yesterday, the state government announced that it was planning to restore the original names of some of the roads in stages, with immediate effect.
For a start, “Jalan Muntri” has been changed to “Lebuh Muntri”. It was originally known as “Muntri Street”.
The state government also plans to change “Jalan Cheong Fatt Sze” to “Hong Kong Street” and ”Lorong Abu Siti” to “Lorong Aboo Sittee”.
Khoo Salma stressed that the stakeholders must agree to a name change before it could be implemented.
“For Jalan Cheong Fatt Sze, for instance, the state government must consult locals and business operators living there before changing the name,” she added.
State Public Works, Utilities and Flood Mitigation Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said it would take six to nine months for evaluation and discussions with the authorities before any name change could happen.
A name change can takes place as a corrective measure (for example amending the spelling), due to its historical significance and as per special requests.
“We will hold meetings with relevant government departments and agencies once we have gathered enough information and feedback from the public, before deciding on the name change,” he said, adding that these included George Town World Heritage Incorporated and the Heritage Department.
Next, Zairil said, the names of towns such as George Town, Batu Ferringhi, Air Itam and Gelugor might be changed.
“This is just to streamline the spelling of the towns’ names,” he said, adding that road names on the mainland would remain as they were, but the state government would consider proposals to make changes.