Roads We Travel

Despite the the title, this entry is not a reflection of my life....I'm not good in exposing my feelings anyway!

Last week, I posted in my Facebook status something about a road in Batu Pahat. One of the roads is named 'Jalan Mohd Akil' which is incidentally is my father's name. So I joked that I can blantantly flouted road rules there and if people angrily yelled at me saying 'Ingat ni jalan bapak kau ke?' (Do you think this road is your father's?!) I can unhesitatingly say 'Yes, it is!!'

Anyway, jokes aside, the roads in Batu Pahat town are mostly named after persons (and yes, some of friends can also claim, jokingly, that certain roads 'belong' to their fathers!) These people are actually long-dead gentlemen who were the founding fathers of the town. Despite that, I virtually have no idea of who these gentlemen (and some ladies too) are. Quite a shame, huh? I don't even know who the actual 'Mohd Akil', whose name was enshrined on that road, was. The more famous names are known however such as Penghulu Rahmat, whose name became the main thoroughfare in town; Mohd Salleh aka Dato' Bentara Luar who was the architect of the town back in 1894; Lim Poon, a Chinese tycoon in the old days...and that's about the extend of my knowledge! Perhaps a full day need to be spent at Batu Pahat's Historical Society whenever I go back there!

We travel on the roads every day. Some are travelled frequently, some are not. We took note of the names but we didn't know the story behind the names. After all, we think, what for? Remembering the people behind road names will not give you a pay rise nor allow you to travel faster to your workplace, but it allows you to remember part of history and by remembering history and to learn its lessons, allows one to better his own or the community or the society's future.

Postscript

- Many people make mistakes when asked about Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman (KL). Many answered that it was named after the first PM of Malaysia when in fact it was named after the first Yang DiPertuan Agong (the PM was TUNKU whilst YDP Agong was TUANKU!)

- Revisiting Jalan Mohd Akil in BP. The road has an intersection with Jalan Sultanah and Jalan Ismail. Now when I was a teen, I have a crush on this girl whose father's name is Ismail. So the fool that I was took it as a good omen / prophecy (oh, please!). As the saying goes, 'Manusia merancang, Tuhan Menentukan'......I lost contact with her after I went to Shah Alam and for all I know she might have a family of her own. And as for me, the prophecy did come true - the son of Md Akil is now married with a granddaughter of a Ismail!