I just cannot understand why the New Straits Times is using Tengku for the name of our beloved first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman.

Even the newspaper's own journalists think it is not right to do so. An editor's idea to impose the so-called 'house-style' has put these journalists in an embarrassing position.

For the record, the Tunku himself had insisted o­n using the title 'Tunku'.

When o­ne foreign wire service used "Tengku", he wrote a strong objection to it (see his own book Looking Back). All the books written by him and official government documents use the title Tunku.

It is certainly wrong to change someone's official name. Even the name 'Tunku Abdul Rahman Foundation' has been changed to 'Tengku Abdul Rahman Foundation'!

By right, Tunku should be addressed as 'Tuanku', as he was declared and buried as a sultan by the Kedah royal family. During his funeral, 21 cannon shots were fired.