MANY of the roads in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, were named after prominent people and the physical landscape of the railway neighbourhood in the early 1900s.
Maganjeet Kaur, who co-authored the Kuala Lumpur Street Names book with Mariana Isa, said Jalan Haji Salleh and Jalan Strachan were two such roads.
“Jalan Haji Salleh was named in 1949,” said Maganjeet.
“While the identity of the individual remains unclear, the name was suggested by the railways department and he likely had links to the Malayan Railways,” she said.
The Malayan Railways was the English name for the national rail system originally built by the British, later reorganised as Keretapi Tanah Melayu.
“Jalan Strachan was named after John Strachan, a chartered engineer who became the general manager of the Federated Malay States Railways in 1927,” said Maganjeet.
She noted that many roads connecting to the railway housing scheme were originally identified by numbers.
“A total of 31 roads were named, starting with either ‘Jalan’ or ‘Lorong’, followed by numbers, such as Jalan Lima, Jalan Enam, Jalan Tujoh and Jalan Delapan,” she said.
Other roads were named after geographical features or landmarks.
“Roads not named after numbers include Jalan Sungai, Jalan Perhentian, Jalan Pusing and Jalan Tanah Lapang.
“While it is uncertain why they were named as such, they likely reflected their surroundings.
“For example, Jalan Perhentian faced the railway station and Jalan Tanah Lapang bordered the Railway Club’s open space,” she said, adding that many of these names had since been expunged.
Maganjeet said that among other road names in Sentul with a history were Jalan Sentul and Jalan Peach Avenue.
“The area was known as Bukit Sentul, named after the cotton fruit tree sentul in Malay.
“The hill was flattened to develop the township, and the road leading to it was given the same name,” said Maganjeet.
“Jalan Peach Avenue was originally named Peach Avenue, after Rev Preston Littlepage Peach, a figure in the Methodist missionary movement and headmaster of the Methodist Boys’ School in Kuala Lumpur in 1933.”
She also highlighted Jalan Kovil Hulu and Jalan Kovil Hilir, originally known as Upper Kovil Road and Lower Kovil Road.
“Kovil means temple in Tamil,” Maganjeet explained.
“These roads led to the Sri Thandayuthapani Temple in Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah, formerly known as Jalan Ipoh,” she elaborated.
