The Visionary Healer Behind Jalan Travers

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Dr Ernest Aston Otho Travers’s visionary contributions extended from reshaping the lives of leprosy patients to co-founding the Selangor Journal. (kl.pulasan.my pic)PETALING JAYA: Jalan Travers, though often overlooked by drivers traversing its brief span connecting Jalan Bangsar, Jalan Damansara and Jalan Tun Sambanthan, holds a significance that extends beyond its apparent brevity.
The Travers police station, a prominent landmark, sits adjacent to a cluster of skyscrapers comprising offices, hotels, residences and shopping centres.
Other historic landmarks sit a stone’s throw away, including Muzium Negara, Majestic Hotel and the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd building.
Beyond its landmarks, though, the road pays homage to a visionary doctor whose fervent belief in justice for all changed the lives of leprosy patients in Malaya.
According to Kean Ghee Lim’s book “The History of Medicine and Health in Malaysia”, Dr Ernest Aston Otho Travers was posted to Seremban, then called Sungei Ujong, as a residency surgeon in 1887.
Travers held many positions between 1887 and 1909, including the acting protector of Indian immigrants in 1890 and health officer of Kuala Lumpur in 1894.
The Sungai Buloh leprosarium, also known as the Valley of Hope, was said to be the most modern of its time.Leaving for private practice in 1909 and returning to government service after World War I, Travers went back to serve as a senior state medical officer – this time at a leprosy asylum in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur.
In a Malaya Tribune article dated Sept 18, 1925, it was said that almost all leprosy patients were forcibly admitted to the Setapak asylum at advanced stages of illness before Travers took charge, applying a more humane and sympathetic approach.
“During the past year, over 80% of those admitted came voluntarily. This shows the sympathetic treatment by a European doctor who visits the asylum daily is really appreciated,” the article read.
Driven by the desire to care for the well-being of leprosy patients, Travers proposed to the British government the construction of a more humane leprosarium in Sungai Buloh.
Known then as the Valley of Hope, the leprosarium opened on Aug 16, 1930, and was considered the most modern of its time.
Beyond his efforts for leprosy, Travers co-founded the Selangor Journal in 1892, a fortnightly periodical devoted to news and views about current events in Kuala Lumpur and other districts of Selangor.
The journal ran for four years until The Malay Mail, the first daily newspaper, began publication in 1896.
Travers died on Nov 9, 1934, at the age of 70, six years after retiring and returning to England. He was survived by his wife Caroline and two daughters, one of whom was also a doctor.
The Sungai Buloh leprosarium still stands today, and the street named in his honour remains as busy as ever, much like its namesake. - FMT

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