Interesting Ethiopian example! I lived in Singapore for eight years in the 90s. Singapore and Malaysia were free the same time. If I recall correctly Singapore changed no name - all British names renamed and are the same to this day. As James Bloodworth jokes, everything in Malaysia got renamed Merdeka (independence) in Malaysia. When he was asked why Singapore didn't change names of landmarks, Lee Kuan Yew said, "we should build some first." . And no vanity monuments built either. Many pragmatic Singaporeans agreed. Lee wanted his house destroyed so it doesn't become a museum after his death. Many things to dislike about Lee, but not this u emotionalism.
Salil Sent from my iPhone > On 10 Sep 2015, at 18:13, harry <[email protected]> wrote: > > I remember visiting various government offices in Addis Abeba in 2009 - and > some of the buildings still had inauguration plaques on the walls from the > time of the Derg regime(one of the most brutal periods in Ethiopia), and > some buildings had been named after marxist heroes. Many buildings still > had communist sickles even though the Derg had been overthrown in 1987. I > asked one of the civil servants why did they still have these things > decorating the walls. He gave me a simple answer - "this is history, some > history is good, some bad - we have to remember both". > > >> On 10 September 2015 at 08:03, James Bonilla <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Three links on the renaming of the Aurangzeb Road: >> >> (1) From the Indian Express: >> >> http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/renaming-aurangzeb-road-kalam-dragged-into-controversy-he-tried-to-avoid-all-his-life-congress/ >> >> (2) From the mouth of Irfan Habib: >> >> http://www.catchnews.com/india-news/aurangzeb-road-renamed-akbar-and-shah-jahan-are-next-irfan-habib-1440878982.html >> >> (3) From DNA India : >> >> http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-pm-narendra-modi-under-fire-by-civil-society-over-aurnagzeb-road-ftii-row-2122340 >> >> There is much to be said for leaving historical names alone. But there is >> much precedent for renaming roads (but not countries) named after a >> "favcorite bad guy". Agree? Disagree? Comments? >> - James >>
