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W o r d s & I m a g e s :
Q u e n t i n K o n g
M
y
father always had
a penchant for the
outdoors. He and
my mother would
often have some-
t h i ng p l anned
for the family on
weekends – be it a picnic near a waterfall,
a caving expedition, or jungle-trekking.
I remember those times wewent hiking
at Broga Hill. He would wake us up at
unearthly hours for the twenty-minute
drive to the sleepy town of Broga at the
Selangor-Negeri Sembilan border.We
would park in a former oil-palm estate at
the foot of the hill and begin our hike at
4.30a.m. in pitch darkness with torchlights
to illuminate our path.
My mother thought he was insane,
but dad always retorted, “The early bird
catches the worm!” What we would
indeed catch was an ethereal blanket of
mist cosseting the slopes, moving like a
slow giant being rustled from its slumber
at the nudging of the wind. Such fleeting
displays of nature do not last very long as
the mist is gradually lifted by the rising
sun.
What attracts city folk to Broga Hill
is perhaps its unique hilltop landscape.
After some upward hiking through a
typical tropical forest, what greets you is
a picturesque grassy knoll looking like it
was taken straight out of a scene from the
Sound of Music. Of course, you’d only see
it in daylight after reaching the peak or on
your way down. In the darkness on most
weekends, you’ll spot a stream of dotted
lights snaking up the incline like a trail of
ants on an anthill.
Lying approximately 400m above sea
level, the first summit offers a splendid
view of surrounding villages and rolling
peaks and valleys beyond that – owing to
its location at the edge of the Titiwangsa
Range. Broga Hill is known to some as
Bukit Lalang from the weed that grows
abundantly here.
The view from the top of Broga Hill