Fraser's Hill - Unfinished History

In 1910, Fraser’s Hill was “discovered” when Bishop Ferguson-Davie of Singapore went in search of his lost friend, Louis James Fraser, a miner who had disappeared.  After a steep and arduous trek up from The Gap, Ferguson-Davie found the mine and the workers’ camp deserted and did not find him. Though disappointed, he nevertheless found the hills restful and rejuvenating and was perfect for a hill station–a retreat from the heat of the lowland. Sir William George Maxwell wrote in his report:  ‘The Bishop, on his return to Singapore, wrote a report on his visit showing that within about five miles of the Gap, on the main trunk road between Pahang and Selangor, there was an area which seemed to be eminently suitable for a hill station and which could be rapid, easily and cheaply developed.’

Historically, the Fraser’s Hill was named after Louis James Fraser, a European and former gold and tin businessman, who used to live at the summit of this landscape, before it was being designed as the third hill station in Malaya. According to a few documented histories, Fraser was the first one who discovered that this mountainous landscape was rich with tin deposits. The hill stations were landscapes created by the British people, to bring the lifestyle of their homeland to a foreign country, as they felt that it was crucial to return to colder climate from the enervating low altitudes. However, it was later found that the function of the hill stations was more than that. Some historical sources and earliest documents stated that the hill stations in Malaya functioned as sanitaria for the British, to comfort their mental health from tropical pressure. the hill stations were not only a refuge landscape from the heat, but also a social place for the families and friends to play sports, attend balls, hang out in pubs, etc. This is the reason that hill stations in Malaya were created with tennis court, golf course and lawn for games, as seen in the hotels on the Penang Hill and Cameron Highlands, and pubs on the Fraser's Hill and Cameron Highlands

The British people realised that the landscape of the Maxwell’s Hill was unable to fill their needs to build more retreat buildings and infrastructures, such as hotel and mountain rail similar to that in the Penang Hill, as this hill station was lacked of flatlands. As a result, the colonial was on the look for a bigger hill station. In an archive report by Sir William George Maxwell (1988): In November 1917, the Right Reverend C.J. Ferguson-Davie, the Bishop of Singapore explored Fraser’s Hill . He sent a report to the High Commissioner and Chief Secretary of the FMS Government about a hill that was suitable as a hill station.

1927 Handbook to British Malaya recorded that there were 9 bungalows for the use of government officials, 4 houses built with the help of the Red Cross for ex-servicemen and women, 3 private homes, a country club, a golf course, water supply and a post office. With romantic names such as The Glen, The Bishop’s House, Wray, Parr, Aubyn, Kindersley and The Lodge conjuring up. Hemmant trail, cutting across the left side of the golf course, there was the remains of a tiny communications centre built by the Japanese Army during World War II. The hills were the foil, and the peaks offered perfect coverage of the lowlands. Shielded from the prying eyes of the Allies, the vault nearby was where Japanese soldiers stashed critical documents and weaponry.  

Fraser hill always intriguing  because the authentic and pristine surrounding embedded with English Tudor style architectures and cooling moist weather. I been there few times and the retreat experiences offer me something deeper to explore. There are many stories behind this colonial setting yet to be unravelled, moreover about the mysterious missing James Fraser and hidden journal of Rev Ferguson Davie who went on finding his ‘best’ friend but to no avail. The abandon of bishop house  until now the house still in ruin. Why there was no intention for preservation, was it due to ghostly story foretold ? Did really the bishop unsuccessful  to find Fraser? And  why the bishop manage to secure the land at the hill and built his own mansion ?

‪I am still  yet to  find related journals   which can narrate and relate with the whole incidents. It seems hard to discover any writings regarding James Fraser. It was told that he had established opium and gambling den to provide entertainment activity for his Chinese workers . Did this has any relation to his missing? Or with who actually he went for at first time to explore the thick monsoon until discover the big fortune? I assume this history is still long way to go. Its to early   to pen any conclusion or hypothesis on the real story of Fraser Hill. These doubts are just my fictitious mind ,  and curiosity to bridge the unfinished history.