No good reason to rename Petain Road...
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Mar 28, 2012 - ST Forum
I AGREE with Professor Tommy Koh that the policy of decolonising the names of streets and places is tantamount to denying the past and wiping out part of our history ('Should Petain Road be renamed?'; March 20).
Petain Road was named after French leader Henri Philippe Petain in 1928 to honour his contribution to the Allied effort during World War I. The fact that he turned traitor to his country in the next world war does not wipe out his earlier contribution.
He will always be remembered for his victory in World War I and his treachery in World War II, despite the efforts of certain Frenchmen to airbrush his name from the history books.
The name Petain carries no pejorative connotation for any ethnic group in Singapore, and there is no good reason for changing the name of Petain Road to de Gaulle Road.
Given the timing of when the road was named, no insult was intended and Singapore should not have to change its road naming history.
It will only confuse Singaporeans, especially long-time residents of the area.
People who are knowledgeable or interested enough to find out about the origins and histories of street names would know about Petain's role in both wars. For those who are ignorant, Petain Road can serve as a unique example for learning about the twists and turns of history.
In any case, I am sure that with a bit of digging, we could find other historical figures who have had roads named after them and who have done controversial things as well.
Lim-Sin Chey Cheng (Mrs)
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...Yes, there certainly is
Mar 28, 2012 - ST Forum
THE Vichy French government headed by Prime Minister Henri Philippe Petain signed an accord on Sept 22, 1940 with the Japanese government to allow Japan to use military bases in French Indochina and to build new bases ('Should Petain Road be renamed?'; March 20).
The Japanese used these military installations located at Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) and Cam Ranh Bay as staging and supply stations for its air, naval and ground forces.
In his book, The Fall Of Singapore, journalist Frank Owen wrote that British intelligence sources reckoned Japanese military strength in French Indochina before Pearl Harbor at 200,000 battle-hardened elite troops supported by 700 modern aircraft, including long-distance bombers and an unmatched navy.
The first Japanese bombs fell on Singapore on Dec 8, 1941, from bombers based in French Indochina, and the troops who invaded British Malaya and Singapore were assembled and supplied from French Indochina.
We are aware of the many lives lost, the intense suffering and deprivation endured by Singaporeans during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore.
Petain indirectly aided the Japanese invasion and occupation of Singapore. It is appropriate that we change the name of Petain Road.
Mok Piak Liang
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Petain Road...
I think those abit older de should know what ... eh... business ppl sometime do there
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aka as banana rd..
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and come up with crap name like compassvale, river vale
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Originally posted by laurence82:
and come up with crap name like compassvale, river vale
gandhi road...
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Then might as well rename Haig Road.
Sir Douglas Haig has been greatly criticized by some historians for military incompetency during WWI leading to two million British casualties.
For this reason he has sometimes been called 'Butcher Haig'.
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Honestly, de Gaulle wasn't any better too.
Look at what he did to the Algerians (and the Vietnamese, to a certain extent)...I bet Alliance Française, that dump of a French organisation, must have lobbied furiously for the change in name...
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A road name is a name... to identify road...
Even if it was named after someone, why must the road have connection to that person...?
I name my plants Mr Washington... does it mean it refer to geogre washinton? why cannot refer to other washington?
next time name road, must pick "asgnriog" so that it does not refer to any name...
seriously, why even bother to spend to effort in renaming road? the effort could be spent better elsewhere... IE, no point taking public transport and taking pictures but public transport still problematic
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Actually, following the same logic used by the second writer, we should eradicate the name 'Raffles' from all roads, buildings and institutions bearing his name.
Raffles pursued a divide-and-conquer strategy, settling the immigrant races in their own ethnic enclaves instead of letting them mingle and mix.
So instead of a Singaporean identity being forged early on, we had all this ethnic tension and racial riots that plagued Singapore all the way into the 1960s.
It is only now that we are gradually forging a true Singaporean identity. Raffles set back the formation of this identity by a hundred years.
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Originally posted by Clivebenss:
Petain indirectly aided the Japanese invasion and occupation of Singapore. It is appropriate that we change the name of Petain Road.
Then I hope after Lee Kuan Yew is dead nothing is named after him. But now already got http://www.spp.nus.edu.sg/home.aspx.
Suffice for me to point out one example. Lee Kuan Yew in his memoirs stated that as he was working for the Japanese broadcasting at Cathay Building during the Japanese occupation. Hence, he was able to receive news before other Singaporeans of the impending Allied return to Singapore. He claimed he had discreetly disseminated the information. As such, he was afraid the Japanese authority would punish him for doing so if he were identified. It was a heroic act. He fled to Cameron Highlands to hide till the return of the Allied forces.
But after the publication of his memoirs, Mei Ling Chung Harding in her book, Escape from Paradise stated that Lee Kuan Yew was working for the Japanese Intelligence. We may note that Intelligence is a very different sector from Broadcasting.
She was never sued for libel. If you believe her story, then logically Lee Kuan Yew’s flight to Cameron Highlands could not be to evade the Japanese, as claimed. I am sure this puzzle must be in the minds of most of you, and especially those who will be attending the Memorial service at Nilai tomorrow, in honour of those who died fighting against the Japanese aggressors.http://singaporerebel.blogspot.com/2011/09/detained-under-isa-for-starting-civil.html
“Now, from all the already released records in London as well as other historical researches, it is clear that in launching Operation Cold Store, Lee Kuan Yew was serving the then strategic interests of Britain which wanted Singapore to continue to provide a forward military base in Southeast Asia,” said Lim.
“It is also now an undeniable fact that Lee worked earlier for the Japanese military during the Occupation making Britain’s English materials available in Japanese-language for the occupiers,” he added.http://singaporerebel.blogspot.com/2007/07/founding-pap-member-and-ex-political.html
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wat crap.
ppl up there need to do some serious work.
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i am pretty satistied. at least they arent setting up a committee to review it.
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I see no need for change of the road name.
A lot of other political groups like KMM and INA also allied with the Japanese against the british imperialists and colonialists.
Kesatuan Melayu Muda
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kesatuan_Melayu_Muda
Indian National Army
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_National_Army
Even those groups who supposedly were loyal to british interests had people who collaborated with the Japanese, like the peranakan Harry Lee Kuan Yew.
The babas, on the other hand, also known as Straits Chinese, were Chinese more in name than practice. They were the descendants of the very early Chinese immigrants (Hokkiens from the Fujian province) to the straits settlements of Malaya (Penang, Singapore and Malacca). They assimilated with both the local Malays and the colonising British, whom they especially admired. The babas developed their own culture, cuisine and language - Malay liberally sprinkled with Hokkien.
It was the babas who were the framers of Singapore's rules and institutions. Many of Singapore's most prominent Chinese have had baba backgrounds. Lee Kuan Yew, who became prime minister of Singapore aged just 35, is the most obvious example. He claims a Hakka heritage, although his upbringing was that of a baba: at home, he spoke English with his parents and baba Malay to his grandparents. "Mandarin was totally alien to me and unconnected with my life," Lee said of his childhood.
http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/news/648273/
“It is also now an undeniable fact that Lee worked earlier for the Japanese military during the Occupation making Britain’s English materials available in Japanese-language for the occupiers,” he added.http://singaporerebel.blogspot.com/2007/07/founding-pap-member-and-ex-political.html
You say those allied with axis need to change name, then what about Lee Kuan Yew? Need to change or not?
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Originally posted by fudgester:
Then might as well rename Haig Road.
Sir Douglas Haig has been greatly criticized by some historians for military incompetency during WWI leading to two million British casualties.
For this reason he has sometimes been called 'Butcher Haig'.
oh no, got Haig Girls! -
Originally posted by Clivebenss:
aka as banana rd..
It should be.....
Banana Leg (as in Hokkien direct translation)...
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Originally posted by Just_do_it_lah:
It should be.....
Banana Leg (as in Hokkien direct translation)...
kin chio kah in Hokkien is literally as Under the Banana Tree. Just like Tek Kah under the bamboo.
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there's even a road called the pakistan road at sembawang
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Originally posted by Clivebenss:
kin chio kah in Hokkien is literally as Under the Banana Tree. Just like Tek Kah under the bamboo.
...Kah... not leg ?
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and there used to be a Johore Road.
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Originally posted by Just_do_it_lah:...Kah...
not leg ?
do bananas have legs?
this was quite well debated in parliament years ago by Koh Lip Lin and change of Zhujiao back to Tekka Market. You go there and buy pig legs issit?
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there's even jiani store and most of them are found in china.
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Johore Road.
Burnt down liao.......
near to Queens Street Sin-Johore Bus Terminal.
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Originally posted by Clivebenss:
do bananas have legs?
this was quite well debated in parliament years ago by Koh Lip Lin and change of Zhujiao back to Tekka Market. You go there and buy pig legs issit?
Has a pair of arms and legs too,
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Originally posted by Just_do_it_lah:
Burnt down liao.......
near to Queens Street Sin-Johore Bus Terminal.
