Rising
1,500 metres above sea-level on the Titiwangsa mountain range of
Peninsula Malaysia is Fraser's Hill. Named after a solitary English
pioneer called James Fraser in the 1890s, it actually consist of
seven hills. The architecture of the older buildings are essentially
Georgian as it was meant to be a cool retreat from the humidity
of the lowlands for the earlier British community when Malaysia
was still a colony of the British empire.
Today,
it is still a favoured destination for anyone wishing to escape
from not only the humidity but also the hustle and bustle of city
life. Fraser's Hill is truly an idyllic place for one to rest and
to be away from it all.
James Fraser was an accountant by profession who had travelled to
Australia at the peak of the gold rush and then on to Malaya, hoping
to strike gold at what was known as Ulu Tras. He didn't find much
gold but tin deposits was aplenty. Chinese miners was called upon
to extract the tin which was then hauled by mules through thich
jungle along perilous hill route to the nearest town, Raub. Here,
Fraser set up camp and a gambling den for his workers.
But
after 25 years Fraser mysteriously disappeared and when a search
party trekked upinto the area to look for him in 1917, the camp
and mines were deserted. But the beauty and the coolness of the
area convinced the party that the area has more to offer than tin
deposits. They convinced the British authorities that it would make
an excellent hill station and named it Fraser's Hill, after the
missing Englishman. |
