Head for the Hills
Once referred to as 'Little England' by the colonial British rulers, Malaysia's Cameron Highlands have provided a cool retreat from the tropical heat for more than a century
Creatures of habit, wherever they went the British built two things: cricket pitches and hill stations. When it became too hot to play sport in the summer, they bailed (get it?) and retreated up to cooler climes. In Malaysia, where I once lived, you can still see the cloud-shrouded Tudor-style mansions on Penang Hill, Fraser’s Hill outside of Kuala Lumpur, and Maxwell Hill just east of Taiping (where there is also a leaning Chinese pagoda). However, the largest of all was the Cameron Highlands, let’s go take a look.
Boh and Beyond
First 'discovered' by British surveyor William Cameron in 1885, the verdant, green plateau we now know as the Cameron Highlands lay undeveloped for the next four decades, until Chief Secretary of the Federated Malay States Sir William Maxwell (who would later have that hill station named after him outside of Taiping), decreed that the area would make a perfect holiday retreat for sweaty civil servants. Within a decade, impenetrable jungle had been replaced by a nine-hole golf course, cottages, inns, a police station, boarding schools, dairy, nurseries, vegetable farms, and tea estates.
Displacing the indigenous Orang Asli people, the British quickly flocked to the area soon realising that the cool climate and fertile soil was perfect for growing vegetables and tea – such as Boh (highly memorable slogan: ‘Share the Ummph!’). Founded in 1929 by Malayan-British entrepreneur J.A. Russell, the Boh plantations still thrive, and are just as important to the local economy as tourism. In 2007, replacing the simple former structure, Boh opened a shiny new visitors centre made out of glass and steel, at one end featuring an impressive overhang over the plantation below. Before settling on the terrace for a pot of comforting teh, join one of the regular – and free – factory tours, where the intricate manufacturing process is explained with heartfelt passion.
The Silk King
The most famous story told about the Cameron Highlands has never been finished: the 1967 disappearance of American millionaire Jim Thompson (up across the border in Thailand, his name is synonymous with silk – he founded an empire in the fabric that thrives to this day, with his old wooden house by a canal housing a collection of rare art). On Easter Sunday, 26 March, Thompson was on a visit to the Highlands, staying with friends. After attending morning services at the nearby All Souls' Church, they retired back to their cottage, known as 'Moonlight', for some light lunch and tea. After they’d finished eating, Thompson then left for a walk on his own - and never returned.
Launching the largest manhunt Malaysia has ever seen, for more than a month some 400 police, soldiers, aboriginal trackers, helicopters, and even a psychic investigator, tried to track him down, but to no avail. To this day, no-one knows what happened. Wild theories abound: perhaps he was kidnapped by Chinese communist guerillas (possible), eaten by a tiger (not so much), assassinated by the CIA (unlikely, although he did work for CIA forerunner, the Office of Strategic Services during WWII), faked his own death in order to start a new life (improbable), or simply just got lost in the jungle.
Grand Digs
Heading north from Tanah Rata, the administrative centre of the Cameron Highlands, the main road winds through mist-shrouded hills before emerging onto the tricky 18-hole Cameron Highlands Golf Course, which is overlooked by the Cameron Highlands Resort. Probably the grandest place to stay in the hill station, the 56-room property plays up the area's colonial past, with plantation-style window shutters, an elegant tea room (try their excellent Afternoon Tea), and even fireplaces for the cool evenings. The hotel also hosts the occasional ‘Murder Mystery in the Misty Mountains’ whodunnit events, where guests are encouraged to dress up in 1960s period clothing as they try to figure out who killed American silk king Jim Thompson: “Murders are committed and weapons are found in between courses, with a good dose of blackmailing on the side.”
Not too far away, the Tudor affectations of the Smokehouse Hotel wouldn't look out of place in a home counties village – exactly the intention of its first owner Englishman Douglas Warin, who built the property in 1937 to cater for homesick Britons. Three decades later it was sold to retired Colonel Stanley Foster, a rather eccentric former military man, who in 1972 built another mock-Tudor property for himself, known as The Lakehouse. Now also a charming hotel, before his death in 1984 it was his private residence, and he was known to chase Asian visitors away from the house with a whip or cane. Seemingly nostalgic for a distant (and somewhat racist) past, he even went so far as to post up a sign on his lawn that read: 'No Dogs, No Children, and No Asians!'.
Strawberry Fields Forever
Leaving behind the golf course, Tudor splendour and, ahem, colorful former residents, the main road passes through the Highlands’ second biggest town of Brinchang, and past a number of butterfly gardens and strawberry farms – due to the elevated altitude, this is one of the few places the delicious fruit can be grown in Malaysia. It is by one of these – the Kok Lim Strawberry Farm, that the wonderful little Time Tunnel museum is located. Even if you're not a history buff, it's worth stopping by just to gawk at the numerous curios and collectables that the owner has assembled. You'll often find the museum full with older Malaysians, who come to see old toys and games that remind them of their childhood. Other visitors though, are keen on the vintage photos that show how much the area has changed since those long ago days of ‘Little England’.
I’m off to research the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Jim Thompson!