Scott Road (Jalan D.S. Ramanathan), Penang (17 November 2010)
Ralph Scott
Scott Road is a residential road in the Ayer Rajah neighbourhood of Pulau Tikus, George Town. said to have been named after James Scott, who was partner with Francis Light when the latter established the British trading post of George Town. The land on which Scott Road passes through was formerly the Ayer Rajah Estate which belonged to the Brown Family, which has close ties with the Scotts. (David Brown, the patriach of the Brown clan arrived in Penang to become a junior partner to James Scott after Francis Light had passed on. Eventually the firm which Light and Scott started was renamed Scott, Brown & Co.)
The second theory has it that Scott Road was in fact named after Ralph Scott, the Resident Councillor of Penang from 1926 to 1928. In the late 1990's Scott Road was renamed Jalan DS Ramanathan after the first Mayor of the City of George Town. However, this renaming was not gladly received by the residents, and the road sign bearing the name "Jalan DS Ramanathan" was regularly defaced. After the DAP came into power in Penang, a new roadsign bearing both the present name, Jalan DS Ramanathan, and the former name, Scott Road, was put up. There is also a Jalan Scott in Kuala Lumpur, but it was named after a different person.
28 September, 2013: Traffic on Scott Road between Rose Avenue and Gottlieb Road reverted to being two ways except during school hours, which is between noon and 2:30 pm and between 5:30 pm and 7:00 pm Mondays to Fridays.
Jalan D.S. Ramanathan (Scott Road), Pulau Tikus (17 November 2010)
In Singapore, there is a Scotts Road (spelled with a final "s") named after Colonel William Scott, the son the James Scott.
Updates
4 August, 2014: The Star reports that the state government has given the approval for the setting up of a museum called the Colonial Penang Museum on Scott Road.
Getting there
Scott Road is not served by any public transport, so the only way to get there is by car.
Jalan D.S. Ramanathan roadsign (22 July 2017)
Jalan DS Ramanathan roadsign (17 November 2010)
References
City and Nation: Rethinking Place and Identity, page 72, edited by Michael Peter Smith and Thomas Bender (2001, Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, New Jersey).
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