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Highlands’ vegetable and flower farming
industry. The family-owned restaurant
opened in 1989. Goh recounted an
amusing tale of how the restaurant was
named – a family member went to the
temple to seek divine opinion. You Hoo
was derived from two Chinese words
which stood for “friendship” and “peace”.
We had a feast of wild-boar curry,
fried pomfret in deliciously spicy milk
gravy, buttered pumpkin and fried Long
Xu Cai (a vegetable unique to Cameron
Highlands) with salted egg. Goh showed
us how the Long Xu stalks had to be
painstakingly peeled to rid it of an outer
fibrous layer. He also spoke with pride of
the type of pumpkin – native to Japan –
that the restaurant proffered.
Goh hardly took any breaks. He was
always at the restaurant, ensuring that
customers were given the best service,
and sheepishly said that the furthest he
would travel was perhaps, Kuala Lumpur,
but would be aching to return to work
shortly after.
That afternoon, we met more of Uncle
Shan friends. From Cheong Weng Soon
who, with his family members, operated
Rose Valley, a flower farm for tourists;
to Tan Chee Ming who ran the Butterfly
Farm; to Uncle Rajah, who worked for
the Lakehouse as a nature guide; to yet
another family friendwho sold all manner
of honey products at the Highlands
Apiary Farm.
With a family of his own and three
children aged 18 to 24, Uncle Shan
was certainly grateful for the blessings
he had received in the land where he
was born. Cameron Highlands – with
its beauty and often heated issues of
overdevelopment – had provided stable
and honest livelihoods for its inhabitants.
And hopefully, things would remain that
way.
Hydroponically
grown salad leaves