LETTER | Let’s name Jalan Ipoh MRT station as Jalan St Thomas MRT station

LETTER | The MRT2, stretching from Sg Buloh to Putrajaya, is scheduled to become fully operational from March 2023. The 57.7 km line has 36 stations- 27 elevated and nine underground.

Presently, the line is operational from Sg Buloh to Batu Lima. Going through the full list of MRT2 stations and their names, I feel the Jalan Ipoh MRT station (just before the line begins its subterranean course) should be more appropriately named as the Jalan St. Thomas MRT station (JST Station for short) as Jalan St Thomas is directly opposite the station, and will be easier to identify.

Calling it the Jalan Ipoh station is also misleading as the entire stretch from the Batu Lima roundabout to Jalan Chow Kit is generally regarded as Jalan Ipoh.

MRT stations from Batu Lima are listed as Sri Delima, Kampung Batu and Kentonmen and are named after their closest landmarks. Furthermore, Jalan Ipoh was officially re-named as Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah a few years back.

Historically, Jalan St Thomas was named after the Mar Thoma Syrian Christian Church, which was built in the early 1950s and is one of the very few Christian road names left in the federal Capital.

The church is the house of worship for the Malaysian Mar Thoma community members mainly from Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya and Subang Jaya.

The minority Mar Thoma community has played a significant role since the 1900s in the socioeconomic development and history of the nation.

Members of the community have played a leading administrative role in the plantation sector and have contributed much to the corporate and public sectors - in academia, education and diplomatic service, trade unions, media and politics.

Naming the station St. Thomas MRT station will be a fitting recognition of this small community's place in the country and will add to the rich diversity of names that reflects the nation's eventful history.

It is hoped that the Kuala Lumpur Mayor Mahadi Che Ngah, Kuala Lumpur City Hall and the MRT management will kindly consider this proposal.

The Mar Thoma community also hopes that Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh and Batu MP P Prabakaran would also lend their support on this issue.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.