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FireFlyz | 23
“No one now living seems to know
when he moved from Tras to the moun-
taintop nor when or how or why he left
it,” writes Sir George Maxwell of Fraser
in a document regarding the hill station’s
beginnings. What can now be assumed
is that, under a veil of secrecy, Fraser
explored the “mountaintop”, discovered
tin, and set up his mining establishment
complete with gambling and opium dens
to enable him to win back all the money
paid in wages to his Chinese workers.
“There was no mining lease in the
name of Robert Louis Fraser,” continues
Maxwell, yet the lack of paperwork didn’t
stop Fraser mining until the tin was
gone, and then disappearing, leaving the
settlement to be reclaimed by the forest.
The local people continued to refer to
the area as ‘Fraser’s Hill’, but it remained
abandoned until 1917 when two British
gents stumbled across the dishevelled
settlement during a walk and put the
wheels in motion for the development
to map out the area around the Pahang-Perak
border. In his report, he mentioned that he had
spotted a “vortex in the mountains, where for
a (reasonably) wide area we have gentle slopes
and plateau land”.
The discovery was noted enthusiastically at
the time, with the Resident of Perak (Sir Hugh
Low) declaring his desire to develop the area,
with a “sanatorium, health resort and open
farmland” at the top. The idea got as far as a
path being hacked through the jungle to create
access to ‘Cameron’s Land’, and then dwindled.
It was almost 40 years before plans began
to move seriously, when the government once
again became determined to develop a highland
resort for its overheated people. Fraser’s Hill
had already been developed, but was too small
for expansion – they needed a new site and
‘Cameron’s Land’ provided.
That is not to say things happened all that
quickly. It wasn’t until 1931 that the British
finally settled in the area, and this came after
years of careful exploration to determine whether
tea could be grown (it could), detailed planning,
the epic task of creating a road through the dense
jungle hills, and finally getting rawmaterials up
to the peak to establish a settlement at the top.
Despite 46 years having passed since Sir
Cameron pointed out the plateau, his name and
contribution were not forgotten, and the area
remained – as it does to this day – the highlands
of Cameron.
of a hill station. Fortuitously, the
British government had been
on the hunt for a cool spot for
a hill station, and as the more
suitable Cameron Highlands had
yet to be discovered, money and
effort was channelled towards
developing Fraser’s Hill, laying
the foundations of the glorious
place that is still enjoyed today.
Sir Cameron
Sir WilliamCameron, an enthusi-
astic British surveyor working for
the government inMalaya during
the late 1800s, had to wait a long
time for his discovery to enjoy
the recognition it deserves, and
now continues to be given, for its
beauty and lushness.
Cameron first noticed the area
that is now known as his High-
lands in 1885 during his work,
on behalf of the government,
The original buildings of the Cameron
Highland’s settlement add a historic charm
to the modern resort
The cooler climate of
the Cameron Highlands
allows for a variety of
flora and fauna to thrive