The Mayor of Ipoh, Dato' Talaat Hussein, is caught with his pants down when he ordered Jalan Koo Chong Kong, named after a Perak CPO shot dead by the communists, to be renamed Jalan Tabung Haji. We have come to expect these changes for no rhyme or reason except it is distinctly Malay or Islamic. It is in line with an official but unmentioned and stealthy policy of Islamisation and Malayisation of Malaysia that goes on before our very eyes. When the Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Mahathir Mohamed, insists, without amending the constitution or debating it in Parliament, Malaysia is an Islamic nation, and every member of the governing National Front agree and not allow any discussion, he impliedly justifies such idiocy as renaming roads to ensure Malaysia eventually is a Malay country in which non-Malays must live in sufferance.

As if to prove it, the information ministry issues a booklet justifying Malaysia as an Islamic state in which the non-Muslims are slightly better than serfs. When caught out, the government kept a straight face, would not discuss or justify it, but withdrew it when the public clamour rose. It would no doubt reappear in stealth down the road. The non-Malay partners in the National Front goes along. When the MCA organised a forum on the Islamic state, it brought it UMNO ministers to explain; it itself did not have a view except to agree along with UMNO.

The Ipoh City Council, as every local authority, has a civil servant heading it with members nominated by the National Front. It is neither elected nor representative, with decisions taken in a secret cabal and formally announced in formal meetings. Every civil servant does what he can during his term office to be seen more Malay or Islamic. This means every Chinese or Indian name is replaced by a Malay or Islamic name. And the nominated politician is only too happy to comply especially when the thinking is done for him by the manipulative man in charge. He has no political or civic sense, and his interest is to remain in office and show how important his is, and how assiduously he carries out his duties.

So, even when the decision is made to cancel the name changes, the city councillors continue to insist that what they did was right. If it was, why were the changes cancelled? Dato' Talaat said Tabung Haji had asked for a road in its name. Tabung Haji has not asked for a road named after it in Kuala Lumpur. Why should it in Ipoh now? Dato' Talaat lied when he said Tabung Haji had wanted it. But what he did is in line with a deliberate policy of erasing non-Malay contribution to Malaysian society. It is not without design that all if not most Malay city councillors stayed away from the meeting which ordered the name changes. The MCA, the MIC, Gerakan, PPP with UMNO agreed to the name changes, and insist what they did was right.

They could not otherwise. The pre-council cabal had decided what they would do. Why did they not challenge it at that cabal? Were they afraid of their terms being cut short if they dares challenge what should have been challenged? Like the CLP fiasco, it is caught out because there is a public stink. If not, it would have gone through. As so many controversial measures have all over the country. The opposition parties jumped into the fray, and raised irrelevant issues, focussing it on the name change and not on the larger issues involved. The nature of the opposition makes it easy for the government to ignore or deflect it.

And to show that the government is not about to erase non-Chinese road names, we are solemnly told that Jalan Wong Ah Fook, named for one of the great pioneers of Johore Bahru at the turn of the last century, would remain. The name has stood for nearly eighty years. Was there then a proposal to rename it, and other roads named after Chinese and Indian pioneers of Johore Bahru? That this assurance was given suggests it was in the cards. And like in Ipoh, the MCA, the Gerakan, the MIC, PPP and UMNO would have acted in concert to make that happen.

The Ipoh city council has a road renaming committee. The controversy has died down. The committee no doubt would think creatively to destroy the history inherent in the names of roads. It is not pecular to Ipoh. Young Road in Kuala Lumpur was named after a well-like and innovative head of the Malayan Police. It is now Bukit Aman, the hill of peace. Java Street became Mountbatten Road and is now Tun Perak. We know why it is Java Street or who Lord Mountbatten was. But ask anyone within sign who Tun Perak and you get a stare and a blank. Holland Road, named after a Mr Holland, became Jalan Belanda and is now Jalan Persekutuan, and means nothing to the average Malaysian.

This confusion is a requisite when road names are changed as the Ipoh city council does. There is no more reason why names are given to roads. Jalan Koo Chong Kong is an issue because it was renamed in stealth to Jalan Tabung Haji. It is renamed yet again: It is now known as Jalan Tan Sri Koo Chong Kong. And every one, especially the Ipoh city council, pats itself on the back. Nothing has changed. But does that matter? It got the attackers off their backs, did it not? And no doubt it would be changed yet again when the city council is confident it can get away with it sometime in the future.