Renaming of Kuantan’s Jalan Wong Ah Jang draws public ire


PETALING JAYA: A decision to rename several streets in Kuantan bearing the name of historical figure and prominent businessman Wong Ah Jang has drawn the ire of multiple quarters.

Recently, mayor Razihan Adzharuddin said that following a government resolution, the series of streets named Jalan Wong Ah Jang 1 to 5 will be renamed Jalan Bunga Kemboja 1 to 5.

The name change process was scheduled to take place throughout the month of September, with road signs and lane markings to be updated.

Teruntum assemblyman and state executive councillor Sim Chon Siang said he planned to contest the decision at the upcoming exco meeting, as he was not informed about the change.

“They (Kuantan City Council) said that renaming the streets in the area was necessary for its growth. However, I believe that growth is possible even without a name change,” Sim told FMT.

Sim said he hopes to advise Pahang menteri besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail against changing the names of the roads.

Wong, who relocated from China to Kuantan aged 15, was a prominent businessman in the 1920s. He initially worked in an iron mine before capitalising on the booming rubber industry as the region’s first licensed rubber wholesaler.

He also initiated Kuantan’s first motorised public transport service and actively participated in community development. Being a successful businessman, he was recognised with several awards for his significant contribution to the region.

Wong also invested in real estate, including a modern residence along Sungai Kuantan and a well-preserved building on Jalan Teluk Sisek. He died in 1929, leaving a legacy of innovation and community service.

Recently, an online petition was initiated to oppose the roads’ renaming, highlighting the need to preserve history and its potential economic impact.

The signatories urged Wan Rosdy and the state government to reevaluate the decision, emphasising the value of maintaining the historical names of the state’s streets.

In a comment left under the petition, one Kai Lit Phua pleaded with the Pahang government to not erase the memory of an important figure in Kuantan and Pahang’s history.

“Instead, retain the name of the road and consider establishing a Kuantan history museum,” said Kai.

Another petitioner, Phua Kin Keng, recounted his deep familial and historical ties to the Kuantan region, spotlighting the significant connection between the name and the area’s rich history.

“The late Wong Ah Jang, together with my late grandfather and numerous other distinguished individuals from Kuantan, were steadfast supporters of Sultan Abdullah Al-Mu’tasim Billah, playing significant roles in the growth and development of Kuantan.

“Renaming the road threatens to eliminate over seven decades of historical narrative connecting Kuantan’s early developmental phases to its contemporary status as a city,” said Phua.

Meanwhile, MCA vice-president Ti Lian Ker criticised Sim for not adequately performing his obligations both as a state assemblyman and an exco member.

Ti accused Sim of avoiding accountability and pointing fingers at others instead.

“Normally, if officers respect an assemblyman, they inform him before executing such decisions. Sim hasn’t met his duties, which is clear from his inability to engage in a dialogue with the mayor regarding this issue,” said Ti.

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/...aws-public-ire/

Datuk Bandar Kuantan macam mau main 3R

They (Kuantan City Council) said that renaming the streets in the area was necessary for its growth

Sounds alright

what do they have against chinese historical figure name ? Make people konfius ?

"Jalan Bunga Kemboja"

Sound like a hanging flower street.

IMO, sounds like a road from haunted movie

Why Kemboja? State gov advocate piglet and scam?
Why not raya?

I is triggered.

Diam lah MCA

U r not solving the problem and only pointing fingers

Mmg mcm anjing

Bunga Kemboja = Bunga Kubur.

Kuantan: Imej lorong Wong Ah Jang, di sini yang sebelum ini dilabelkan sebagai lokasi aktiviti tidak bermoral akan dipulihkan secara berperingkat dengan kerjasama pelbagai pihak.

Menteri Besar Pahang, Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail berkata, kerajaan negeri serius untuk memulihkan komuniti di kawasan terbabit supaya mereka tidak terus hanyut dengan aktiviti maksiat.

https://www.hmetro.com.my/mutakhir/2021/08/...akan-dipulihkan


What activities are these?

That is the problem that they have to solve.

Oreng kita trying to wipe out historical contribution of "mata sepet" and enforcing the notion "kita tuan, kita pegang kuasa"

This has started as early as Sejarah education.

Actually for big city (not Kuantan unfortunately), giving number to road make sense. You will be able to guess whereabouts the road is. Well, this works well if the road in the city is like sawah padi where you can name Jalan 1, Jalan 2, Jalan 3, etc. However, if the road is like KL you still need to know North South East West. Anyway, now we have GPS already.

red light district

kalu change jalan Ah Wang, /k gonna all out

I think Kuantan famous with Lorong Kunyit? 😆🤣

2 birds with one stone??

1) encourage lovely flowers from cambodia to set up shop there

2) actively erase another part of non-malay history and past contributions to that region.

Cemetery flower.

Google map shows a lot of budget hotels there...

Biasa la attack mode to gain back votes...chinese area tu.

Jalan racun bunga chibai

Is Kemboja sound like Cambodia?
The name change is to reflect the era of scammers in Malaysia history.

Agree with this name.

Very localize.

Sedap lagi dari nama apek

Why bunga kemboja, should use "jalan Bunga racun chibai"

walaun support all this ideas, they need support from walaun for next GE

the sight of outline of a cross on a condo also trigger so many ppl, chinese street name confirm make create mass confusion among the masses......u guys no good la, understand a bit la....ppl weak to name ma.....chinese name very confusing...

when i see this road name i always thought jalan wong telanjang lol

Not surprised to see an ultra here saying shit

Topkek sikit sikit mau tukar nama jalan. Why not use that resources to maintain the road condition?

Slowly wanna remove all.minorty related letewwww

Slowly slowly slowly nxt 10 yrs semua dh takde dah

Mereka dah lama merancang, kito cino je yang lalai

here in sabah also creeping to have this mentality

old jalan bundusan they changing to Jalan Duta

and 50+years old school like SMk Menggatal they change name to Smk Bandaraya

wont affect nons they said

Guess how many Jalan Tun Abdul Razak are there in Malaysia?

Told ya, racial harmony in Malaysia is just a facade.

Here in PJ, they changed Jalan Semangat into Jalan Prof Khoo Kay Kim. Jaya 33 there.

Even things out.

That is a very rare occurrence

of course la with his contribution.

Hun Sen approves

weak mind easily binggung

First have to understand why.

https://sozcyili.blogspot.com/2019/05/netiz...n-khoo-kay.html

i am open to change of name but it should be reversed, where you change the name to acknowledge a person contribution to society.

Regardless if its Malay, Chinese , Indian or English name.

if the person did not contribute anything then ok to change.

Not sure about economic impact of the name change. I know some case there is but Jalan Kemboja does not sound fancy.

Growth apa lanj** with a road name change?

Puak bodoh doing stupid work again. There are many things that can be improved to make the city a better place to live. Changing street names are just not productive and it causes confusion to people. As if changing the street name can make it holier.

so within expectation of their mentality capacity

Keep losing your country but that's ok we can always tukar name jadi kito punyo.
owai. not even kito. kemboja punyo.

This post has been edited by V3i HoN6: Sep 22 2023, 12:01 PM

Cultural n historial genocide

siapa dia? dari parti mana?

This one why /k not making noise?

https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/metro-news...ur-of-former-mp

Don't simply change Temiang to Dr Chen Man Hin

Islamic and Malay culture - rewrite history. Bangganya

See Chinese name can tersinggung, so better not.

pocoloco no need fly scambodia liao

No more lynas prob
Or
Everyone sudah jd zombie

Nama baru pun mcm ala kadar

Bodo

contributed so much to the community,.. Jasa tidak dikenangi is ajaran Islam PAS,..

If state want to rename then they should also do the same for the road with similar scenario.

if changed to jalan wong fei hung, can?

jalan amoi mata sepek.

Bumi ini milik siapa?

the problem of Malaysia is it do not embrace the history unless it is to their favour. everything got to change to suit their taste.

cannot. why change to something that's not relevant to us?

This post has been edited by quintesson: Sep 22 2023, 01:00 PM

Loke Yew:

Maybe is like Goh Hui, was a british citizen. We know how British campur tangan last time at Pahang.

Jalan Chow Kit ➡️ Jalan Suci Murni

Not part of the history n the country

the community contributed must be not part of Malaya,..

This post has been edited by Cincai lar: Sep 22 2023, 01:31 PM

WAS part of but it's something to get rid of so that it's not part of anymore

kalau begini bagoslah

jalan sanusi jalan mamakthir jalan najibai

tokoh2 ini semua paleng best berjasa sembah sumur hidop korsng

Waiting for rename of Jalan Hang Tuah after he was removed from Sejarah text books..

Transgender community

1 by 1. slowly but surely.

Brown-washing history.

Inb4 bumi ini milik siapa

inb4 Wong Ah Jang jumps out from his coffin cari mayor