Padang Chetty part of Klang’s history

He says name change doesnot reflect well on the state govt
Story and photos by ELAN PERUMAL
elan@thestar.com.my

FORMER national coach C. Paramalingam has rapped the Klang Municipal Council (MPK) for its plan to change the name of Padang Chetty to Laman Sukan Majlis Perbandaran Klang,

The 74-year-old hard-talking man said the field had been the training ground for numerous national hockey players who had made it to the Olympics and the World Cup.

Param said the idea of giving it a’new name did not reflect well on the state government.

“Historical treasures especially those from the pre-independence era must be retained as
a gift for the younger generation.

“Padang Chetty is part of the history of Klang and its name should not be changed,” he said.

Recollecting the old days, Paramalingam, who is popularly known as Param, said he had personally trained, played and coached at the field.

Padang Chetty, he said, had hosted various hockey tournaments and leagues in the past.

“This field has a rich tradition for creating great players who represented the council, state and nation.

“Some of them have become coaches while others are still with the council,” he said

He said Padang Chetty used to be the centre of activities for the town’s youngsters who played hockey, football and cricket.

“The name Padang Chetty came about from the huge population of Chetties who stayed in the area.

“The Chetties who came from South Inclia used to carry out businesses not far from here,” he said

According to him, Padang Chetty existed long before the Stadium Kota Raja (Padang Sultan Sulaiman) was built.

“I know teams and clubs are still holding their training sessions at the field,” he said.

Klang Consumers Association president. A. Devadass also criticised the council for attempting to change the name of the field.

He said the council should be worrying about providing the best standard of service to the ratepayers instead of going about changing names of the streets and places.

“They are wasting their time doing crazy things like this,” he said.