SMS opinions about CH

Found these 2 SMS from the news, "SMS your views". Read for your info. As for the high cost of tea, would be good if the SMS info the place or restaurant overcharging for all to note. Then again, the establishment may end up fuming take up an axe and come after my blog. Anyway, do ask about pricing before eating if their prices are not displayed. I think one or two black sheep restaurant in Cameron Highlands, and one notorious one in Brinchang (received many complaints about that restaurant but I can't mention it because they were angry with me saying they worked very hard lah and all that and I spoil their business, blah, blah, blah... well have reasonable and competitive pricing then won't get black marks from the tourist la...!)

Imported vegetables (25/2/2012)

Cameron Highlands traders pls don’t take tourist as fools. If product from China, Indonesia or imported, just admit it & don’t claim its frm CH - Dinda Remy

High cost (26/2/2012)

A glass of plain tea at a Cameron Highlands tea plantation costs RM5 and above. It spoils the tourist business. I vow not to drink there.

Highlands has lost its charm (Tuesday March 13, 2012)

Cameron Highlands is a popular holiday destination but due to over-development it has lost its charm. – Subra

Confusing signs on the Camerons road

Confusing signs on the Camerons road
Wednesday February 15, 2012

RECENTLY, my family and I went on a trip to Cameron Highlands. We travelled via Simpang Pulai and on the way we observed two road signs that kept appearing along the road and the two always appeared together (as seen in the photo) [editor: didn't find the photo...].

The first road sign, a white circle with a black diagonal stripe always comes first and a few metres away, is a road sign indicating a 50kph speed limit.

My dad recognised the first as a sign indicating the National Speed Limit, which means the speed limit for cars is 60mph on single carriageways and 70mph on dual carriageways and motorways.

May I ask the Road Transport Department why are the road signs contradicting one another? The road to the Camerons is the only road where I have observed this particular placement of such road signs.

PEACH,
Shah Alam.

Cameron Highlands Traffic Jams

Here's a resident of Cameron Highlands complaining about the traffic jams and road congestion of this popular Cameron Highlands resort. If it was me, I would be fuming mad at the heavy traffic whenever a peak weekend or peak holiday season attraction thousands of tourist. Since I'm just a tourist having a love for this popular Malaysia highland, taking a break from the rat race of KL only to face another traffic nightmare in the highlands is not to my liking either. I can empathized with this writer.

Uphill battle against traffic chaos
Thursday July 14, 2011

I HAVE lived in the Cameron Highlands for the past 26 years and have seen the many changes to the once serene and peaceful hill station. I can no longer agree and accept happily if someone were to describe the highlands as the ideal getaway.

The skilled need to be wooed back

The skilled need to be wooed back
Tuesday June 21, 2011

IT was with interest I read that a man from relatively humble beginnings in Cameron Highlands, Sam Chong, is among Australia’s richest persons with wealth estimated at around A$950mil (RM3.06bil), made from coal mining (“I did it mine-way! M’sian-born Chong among Aussie’s richest” – The Star, June 20).

Like Datuk Jimmy Choo, here is another Malaysian who has brought pride and glory to the country. Only when he was listed in Business Review Weekly (BRW) as among the “Rich 200” did he come into the limelight.

Chong today is regarded as one of Australia’s biggest coal miners. It was the Malaysia Boleh spirit and sheer hard work that enabled him to reach where he is today.

Chong, 68, owns a substantial shareholding in Jellinbah Resources, which operates two coal mines and is in the process of developing a third.

Even at an age when most people would be thinking of taking it easy, Chong is still persevering to reach even greater heights.

A long walk down to Boh Tea Plantation

A long walk down
Saturday June 4, 2011

I have one more year to retirement.

My working life has been very interesting as I have met so many people with unique characters.

During our company’s recent team building trip to Cameron Highlands, the boss hired a small 25-seater coach for the 21 people on the trip. Among us was a young girl, fresh from school, who was normally quite talkative at work. She didn’t seem timid until one afternoon during the trip when she went into an all-hell-break-loose frenzy.

Cuti-Cuti Cameron Highlands road in bad shape

Cuti-Cuti road in bad shape
Wednesday April 6, 2011

I AM a frequent traveller from and to Cameron Highlands and most of the time I use the road to Tapah.

This road is in a very bad condition on the Perak side. There are so many potholes and depressions along the road that makes driving very difficult.

Rectify Simpang Pulai Cameron Highlands road KM15

Rectify black spot at KM15
Saturday January 8, 2011

I AM a frequent visitor to Cameron Highlands and am saddened by the Dec 20 bus tragedy in which 28 people died, the worst in the country.

The horrific tour bus accident along KM15 of the Simpang Pulai-Cameron Highlands road set many authorities enquiring into the licensing conditions for tour operators and commercial vehicles, the competency of the driver and whether the company complied with the conditions of the permit.

There were calls for a Royal Commission to examine and seek to determine, among other things, whether there was any defect in road design, so it could be improved on.

That stretch of road is a well-known "black spot". The crash occured just 500m from where an express bus plunged into a ravine on Dec 23, 2004, killing 15 people and injuring 17 others.

I would like to point out another "killer stretch", at KM27, a dangerous spot with sharp bends that needs to be rectified before any accident happen.

In view of the coming Chinese New Year and with more tourists planning their holidays up there, prevention is better than cure.

Subsequent to the 2004 crash, the stretch where it occurred was straightened and other road improvements made, but nothing was done at this black spot bend at KM15.

Coming down from Cameron Highlands, this black spot begins on a relatively straight road but with a very steep gradient and continues into a very sharp bend.

Following the 2004 accident, concrete dividers were erected, but these had not reduced the number of accidents on that spot.

This black spot can be improved upon by widening the sharp bend, similar to what was done following the 2004 horror. The authorities should improve this stretch to prevent more lives being lost.

On Dec 27, I saw workers at the black spot putting a fresh layer of paint on the concrete divider even though parts of it were yet to be replaced.

Mohd Al Asri Hasan
Parit, Perak.

Something Humorous, how can forget...?

All systems go
Saturday December 25, 2010

We love Cameron Highlands and have been there a couple of times on family holidays.

The last time we were there, we drove up to see one of the tea plantations. When it was time to go home, my son and I got in the front seat. My wife put my daughter (then four years old) at the back, and when the door slammed shut, I drove off.

As I was driving off, I heard shouting. Looking into the side and rear mirror, I couldn’t see anything. As we drove down from the tea plantation, my eight-year-old suddenly said, “Pa, mummy not in the car!”

Shocked, I turned around, and sure enough, she was nowhere in sight. I quickly made a U-turn and went back up again and there she was walking down the slope.

We did not know whether to be angry or to laugh. It was a mixture of both emotions. What happened was my wife closed the door after putting our little girl in the back and was walking to the other side when I drove off!

We still have a good laugh about the incident. It was still a great holiday despite my leaving my wife behind.

Chor Ming Chong
Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Cameron Highlands Gua Musang Road Needs Lights

Gua Musang-Cameron Highlands road needs lights
Friday October 15, 2010

Gua Musang in Kelantan is only about a 90-minute drive from Cameron Highlands. The journey of about 100km is truly enjoyable if you are travelling during the day. The cool breeze and greenery plus those Orang Asli settlements on both sides of the road give you a pleasant feeling and an experience of what eco-tourism is all about.

Nowadays, more local and foreign tourists are using this road to travel between Gua Musang and Cameron Highlands as this is the shortest way and also easiest to get to the North-South Expressway at Simpang Pulai.

Always lock the car, right?

Always lock the car, right?
Saturday August 28, 2010

Cameron Highlands has always been my favourite place to visit, from when I was a teenager till today, when I have become a mother of two.

On Feb 1 this year, we took the opportunity to go up the hill again. My husband was feeling quite "adventurous" and did not make the room reservations. We left Kuala Lumpur at 6am and stopped in Bidor for breakfast.

From Bidor, we took approximately 1½ hours to reach Tanah Rata. It drizzled all the way. There were so many new hotels, so we made enquiries for rooms. However, they were all fully booked, including my favourite hotel, The Heritage.

Stop the desecration of Cameron Highlands

Stop the desecration of Cameron Highlands
Thursday July 22, 2010

I was a resident of Cameron Highlands for almost 10 years and returned recently after a short break of three years. I am shocked at what I see today.

There appears to have been no control over land clearing, building development or river preservation. Hotels, housing schemes, farms and small industries have emerged indiscriminately all over the highlands, especially in the larger towns of Ringlet, Tanah Rata, Brinchang, Kea Farm and Bertam Valley.

There has been a complete desecration and disregard for this beautiful highland and its pristine rivers.

Our hill resorts need cleaning up

Our hill resorts need cleaning up
Wednesday April 14, 2010

I AM happy to read that there is a freeze on development in Fraser’s Hill.

I spent two days and one night there two weeks ago and came away feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. However, I noticed garbage on the way up the hill and also around Fraser’s.

Another thing I couldn’t help but notice was that some of the bungalows were dirty and rundown. There was also a resort there that looked utterly decrepit.

The English translation on some of the information provided for foreign tourists was atrocious, to say the least!

I have also been to Cameron Highlands and yes, garbage was everywhere too.

That draws me to the letter “Poor tourists are simply too dirty for comfort (The Star, April 13). As the writer points out in his letter, you don’t find rubbish in high class neighbourhoods in our country.

I stay in a new development area in Cheras and I see rubbish piled up everywhere. When I go to places like Tropicana and Damansara, for example, I find them so well kept. Why is this so?

IRENAWATI ZAINODDIN,
Cheras.

Clean up of Cameron Highlands tourist spots

We need to clean up our act at tourist spots
Tuesday July 14, 2009

I was in Cameron Highlands recently and the weather was refreshingly nice - cool and breezy. There were many foreigners there, which goes to show that Cameron Highlands still manages to draw the tourists inspite of the rapid developments that go on at the resort.

However, what upsets me is the rubbish that people throw on the streets and into the rivers.

Take a trip to Parit Falls, for instance, and the stench of the rubbish in the water hits you immediately.

Why doesn’t Majlis Perbandaran Cameron Highlands clean it up instead of allowing it to float on the water for days. I was there for four days and by the time I left, it was still there.

Then, there are the dirty toilets.

Even at Mardi’s agriculture park, maintenance of public toilets is below par altough entrance fee is charged.

Malaysia has numerous beautiful destinations. However, we fail in maintaing these areas nor do we keep them clean.

Alan Yu Toh Bing
Shah Alam, Selangor.
-- Star News Opinion

Homestay a good way to see country

Homestay a good way to see country
Thursday March 26, 2009

I AM all for the support of any initiative to bolster the rural economy, especially during this period of economic uncertainties. Thus the report, “Tourism Ministry pushes homestay concept” (The Star, March 17) is a welcome move.

Homestay for tourists as a tourism product and a Malaysian attraction should be given due emphasis as it does not incur a big sum of money. It does not need to construct any infrastructure, except for promotions to “sell” our fast disappearing Malaysian way of life.

It’ll be good to fly direct to Malaysia again

It’ll be good to fly direct to Malaysia again
Sunday February 8, 2009

I HAD the pleasure of visiting Malaysia for the first time recently. It was a most rewarding and eye-opening experience.

I couldn’t believe how clean and tidy your streets and fantastic freeways were. I haven’t seen cleaner highway restrooms anywhere.

The country also seemed to be thriving.

Visiting the Cameron Highlands was a memorable experience and a highlight of the trip. The staff at Strawberry Park Resort were very accommodating.

But the best part of Malaysia was that everywhere I went the local people were friendly, cheerful and always willing to help.

The only problem is that I live in the north west of Australia, in Broome. We had to come via Perth, an extra six hours flying time.

As I write, the Broome International Airport is trying to get an international carrier to fly in and out of Broome. If anyone from Malaysia Airlines or any other airline reads this, could you please help us get direct flights from Broome to Kuala Lumpur? I am sure it will be a very worthwhile exercise.

Sebastian Von Perger,
Broome, West Australia.

Rubbish all over highlands during holidays

Rubbish all over highlands during holidays
Wednesday October 8, 2008

OVER the recent Hari Raya festive season, Cameron Highlands, which is among the favourite holiday destinations, was swarmed with tourists.

We welcome tourists as directly or indirectly, the majority of the people here are involved in the tourist business.

Tourists bring in the money but at the same time they bring us a lot of headache too. One of their very bad habits is throwing rubbish everywhere.

You can see rubbish by the road side, gardens and staircases. Some even leave their bags of rubbish along the corridors of apartments. You can even see them throw rubbish out of their car windows while driving around.

The other irritating thing is creating havoc at the apartments such as making loud noises till very late into the night and having a BBQ along the corridors and having the smoke enter into neighbouring units.

I would like to appeal to all visitors to please help keep Cameron Highlands clean by not throwing rubbish around.

Fun in the hills (for seniors)

Fun in the hills
Monday August 25, 2008
By George Lee

Life can be lived with gusto, even in one’s senior years.

WHO says seniors have to sit in one corner alone and stare at the “lost” horizon day in, day out, and miss out on all the fun? Given the opportunity, we love to get around and socialise.

I look forward to the weekly fellowship on Saturdays. Seniors with cars often bring one or two new friends along. Those without transport wait for the van – driven by volunteers – to pick them up.

The tea plantations of Cameron Highlands are a big draw for tourists.

---

After a breakfast, we socialise, exercise, sing and dance or do whatever it takes to get the old self ticking again.

All too soon, it’s time for lunch, which is about 12.30pm, and then it’s “bye till we meet again next week”.

Those who are active and mobile look forward to outdoor activities and visits. Then there are much-awaited yearly trips to Cameron Highlands to savour the cool outdoors and enjoy the scrumptious seafood.

Our last trip there a few months ago was a huge success. We had fun sightseeing, playing games, shopping and feasting.

With the new highway, it was not necessary to leave Penang late in the night and spend hours travelling uphill from the Tapah exit. Now it’s an early start at 6am from Penang Island. We headed to Butterworth for breakfast, and had lunch later along the way.

Have your pick of fresh strawberries from the farm.

---

Shortly after Ipoh, we took the Simpang Pulai exit and headed for the hills. From there the drive up was smooth and pleasant. The road is less winding and wider than the old route from Tapah.

The half-way stop provided the opportunity to stretch our legs and, for some, the much-needed toilet break and tea. That’s the beauty of it. Organised by seniors for seniors, all our needs were looked into.

We had a great time together. The weather was pleasantly cool. We did lots of shopping, too. Seniors may be slow in some things but when it comes to shopping and getting the best bargains, we are at our most active. During that time, nothing else matters. One nearly missed the bus home.

One is never too old to learn new things. We visited a tea plantation and saw how tea was harvested, processed and packed, and we were served tea with cakes and scones.

We sampled the honey from the bee farm, and bought freshly harvested vegetables and strawberries from the farms that we visited.

Life can be as interesting as we make of it. There’s really no time to sit and mope at home. If you’re feeling bored and lonely, you are most welcome to our weekly fellowship.

Senior is a fortnightly page dedicated to senior citizens. We welcome real-life stories happy, sad, inspiring, heartwarming from readers who are 55 and above. E-mail them to startwo@thestar.com.my. -- The Star.

Impressed by the food and people

Impressed by the food and people
Friday July 25, 2008

LAST week four of us returned to New Zealand after spending two glorious weeks holidaying in Malaysia.

After crossing over from Singapore, we picked up a rental vehicle from Johor Baru and departed for the east coast. Here we took one week to sink ourselves into the remoteness of your pristine beaches, amazing countryside, beautiful people and very tasty makan.

From Kota Baru, we motored across to Ipoh through some of the most beautiful views ever, sighting many wild animals along our way. From Ipoh, we surrounded ourselves with fresh strawberries and Boh tea as we wandered around Cameron Highlands.

Kuala Lumpur beckoned as we once again hit the roads, at times taking the minor highways over the expressways, driving through so many kampungs and enjoying fresh fruit from the many road-side stalls.

Our holiday ended with a couple of nights in historical Malacca, followed by a sumptuous seafood lunch over the waters at Kukup prior to returning to Johor Baru.

There is so much I could write about our holiday in your amazing country but there are two things I must comment on.

Firstly the IPRAC car-hire people we dealt with in Johor Baru and secondly the staff at Traders Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Both of them offered an extremely high level of service, exceptional professionalism, competency and a friendly personal service.

We left Malaysia with two great impressions. Firstly, the exquisite food and secondly the people who were always so friendly and helpful, laughing with us and not at us as we clumsily attempted to speak Malay. Terima Kasih.

ROGER & DIANE THOMPSON,
Marlborough,
New Zealand.

Fraser’s Hill or Fraser Hill?

Fraser’s Hill or Fraser Hill?
Wednesday July 23, 2008

I MUST thank Captain P.J. Rivers for his response (July 4) to my article on eponyms. He wondered what I could make of Cameron Highlands. Well, the place could conceivably have been called the Cameron highlands although highlands it was not, because it was man-made.

Malaysia, beginning with Malacca in 1511, came under three colonial masters; and they left, amongst other things, a legacy of place names, e.g. the Portuguese Jalan Tranquerah, the Dutch Jalan Heeren and Jalan Jonker, and the British Province Wellesley.

These names have been changed to Jalan Tengkera, Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Jalan Hang Jebat, and Seberang Perai, respectively.

Future waves of national fervour may change many more of the place names with a colonial flavour. But name change was not the drift of my article. I posed the question whether the hill in question should have been called Fraser’s Hill or Fraser Hill. Since the English language seems to have as many exceptions as there are rules, I merely wished to know which is the rule (Fraser’s, the eponymous possessive) and which the exception (Fraser, the eponymous modifier), or vice versa.

– Dr Lim Chin Lam, Penang

There’s also Cameron Highlands

There’s also Cameron Highlands
Friday July 4, 2008

DR Lim Chin Lam has rightly made a distinction between the British usages of Maxwell Hill and Fraser’s Hill (June 13).

Just as Mount Swettenham took its name from a colonial administrator, so was Bukit Larut renamed after Sir William Maxwell when as Assistant Resident he built a government bungalow there. I’m not sure that Louis James Fraser actually owned his eponymous hill but he certainly mined it for tin.

I wonder what Dr Lim can make of Cameron Highlands, which takes its name from an obscure surveyor who first reported a “tableland” in that mountainous area.

Although William Cameron never actually reached the site, several parties were sent to look for Cameron’s “plateau”. As it never actually existed, earthfill from the road that was eventually cut and a valley was levelled named Tanah Rata – “Flat Land”.

So over time, the title of Cameron’s plateau was replaced with Cameron’s highlands to now become Cameron Highlands.

– Captain P.J. Rivers, Cameron Highlands

--------------
Excerpt:
What the dickens is eponym?
By Dr Lim Chin Lam
Friday June 13, 2008

Why is it, in British colonial Malaya, we had (and still have) Maxwell Hill and Fraser’s Hill? Why the two styles of naming? I have this nagging feeling that Maxwell Hill was named after Maxwell whereas Fraser’s Hill must have been owned by Fraser!

“Oh, Why can’t the English, Why can’t the English” – recited to the patter song in My Fair Lady – “set a good example and make up their minds: Is it Fraser’s Hill or Fraser Hill?”