Fraser’s Hill

Fraser’s Hill, situated on the boundary of Selangor and Pahang, is a hill-station perched on steep ridges that developed from a tin-mining settlement into a popular resort frequented by residents throughout Malaya. Unlike the valley-land of Cameron’s Highlands to the north, Fraser’s Hill offers panoramic views from most of its houses, with the surrounding landscape encompassing the Ulu Selangor, the Sungei Tras, and the Ulu Yet drainage systems [1, pp. 8–10]. The locality is characterised by abundant building stone, a poor water-supply, and cultivated gardens that contrast with the wilder flora of the adjacent highlands [1, pp. 10–11].

Toponymy & Indigenous Landscape

The hill is named after Mr. L. J. Fraser, who resided in Singapore before migrating to Selangor to manage a transport-service between Kuala Kubu and Raub at a time when only a bridle-path existed [1, p. 8]. This path, still traceable on the Pahang side of the Gap, passed through the village of Sangka Dua approximately half-way up [1, p. 8]. The topography is defined by a series of watersheds: the road from the Gap follows the Selangor–Pahang boundary before crossing onto the divide between the Selangor River and the Sungei Tras, which in older usage was generally referred to as the “Batang Tras” [1, p. 8]. Further up, the watershed between the Tras and the Yet marks the children’s playground, while the Ulu Yet forms the steep northern declivity where tree-ferns are abundant [1, p. 8]. The open, gently sloping valley now occupied by the Golf Course was formerly known as Pamah Lebar—a Malay term for a broad, flat plateau—and was once cut up by small tin-workings called lampans from one end to the other [1, p. 8].

Mining History & Colonial Administration

When Fraser commenced his transport-service, Chinese miners were already working tin on and near the hill. In 1894 Fraser acquired land himself and collected ore from Chinese working on tribute, chiefly in the Yet and Sempam valleys [1, p. 8]. The mines were prosperous, and a mining engineer, Mr. F. Ponsford, resided at Pamah Lebar prospecting tin-lodes beneath the “Mogador” bungalow [1, p. 8]. By 1904, when Scrivenor first visited, the manager was Mr. Saunderson, who lived in a hut of Malay mats, atap (palm-leaf) roof, and earth floor on the slope below “Polygone” bungalow [1, pp. 8–9]. In 1909 the mining leases were taken over by the Sempam Tin Mining Company under the managership of Mr. Gerald Bowen, who initially occupied Saunderson’s old hut [1, p. 9]. The Company’s operations were ultimately destroyed by a dispute with the Raub Australian Gold Mines over tailings and damage to machinery; a small monitor was installed below “Polygone” to divert tailings into the Selangor drainage area, but the difficulty proved fatal to the venture [1, p. 9]. By 1914 Ponsford had acquired much of the Pamah Lebar land and sent Scrivenor a plan showing several tin-lodes and a reservoir near the present Office Tennis-court [1, p. 9]. When mining ceased, the Pahang Government purchased the Company’s house, which formed the nucleus of the hill-station [1, p. 10]. The old leases in the Ulu Sempam and lower Yet valley were subsequently taken over by the Raub Australian Gold Mines Ltd. [1, p. 10].

Scenery & Development

The developed area of Fraser’s Hill, including houses and roads up to the Peninjau, covers approximately two square miles [1, p. 10]. From the meteorological station between “Mogador” and “Ledeghem,” on a clear morning, the finest view of the mountains of the Peninsula can be seen: G. Semangko and G. Liang in the Main Range, G. Raja, G. Mengkuang Lebar, and Bukit Kutu to the south, the Benom Range to the east, and the Tahan Range and Kelantan peaks to the north-north-east [1, p. 10]. From the Peninjau, the great plains of Pahang stretch below, with the Tras gorge and the road to Raub and Lipis visible in the distance [1, p. 10]. The gardens of the station display a wide variety of cultivated flowers—dahlias, chrysanthemums, geraniums, lupins, salvias, antirrhinums, marigolds, daisies, roses, verbena, fuchsia, petunia, carnations, pansies, zinnias, coreopsis, gladioli, montbretia, balsams, nasturtiums, corncockles, buddleia, heliotrope, and phlox—while morning glory and tecoma line the roadsides and scarlet passion-flower covers screens and pergolas [1, p. 11].

Research and Documentation

The principal source for the early history of Fraser’s Hill is the memoir by J. B. Scrivenor, a Government geologist and surveyor, published in 1931 [1]. Scrivenor’s first visit was in 1904, and he records subsequent observations through the late 1920s, including the transition from mining to hill-station development [1, pp. 8–11]. His account provides the only detailed contemporary description of the topography, the sequence of mining operations, and the physical layout of the station as it stood in the early twentieth century. The article also draws on a plan sent by Ponsford in 1914 showing tin-lodes and a reservoir at Pamah Lebar, and on the large-scale map of the region (10 in. = 1 mile) referenced in connection with the naming of local features [1, pp. 4].

MBRAS Sources

• J.B. Scrivenor (1931). Recollections of Cameron’s Highlands and Fraser’s Hill. JMBRAS 9: 2–14

References

1. J.B. Scrivenor (1931). Recollections of Cameron’s Highlands and Fraser’s Hill JMBRAS 9(1): 2–14.