Le Tour de Langkawi 2011

Le Tour de Langkawi 2011

Le Tour de Langkawi take after the famous Tour de France. So this is the Malaysian version of the long distance bicycle race.

The 10-stage Tour of Langkawi (LTdL), will be held from Jan 23-Feb 1 next year. The Tour will be flagged off from its 'home' in Langkawi

Next year's (2011) LTdL will have three stages more than this year's (2010), covering a total distance of 1,308.9km and with two consecutive climbing stages – the 136km Stage Four (Lumut-Cameron Highlands) and 128km Stage Five (Tapah-Genting Highlands).

Really tough sport!

Dirty Parit Waterfall

> Rubbish complaint

Parit Waterfall, Cameron Highlands has lots of floating rubbish on Aug 23. UK tourists also saw shameful scene. Redfaced

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.

YTL Award Winning Resorts

YTL has some really luxurious premium resorts, and of course Cameron Highlands Resort is one of them. Here are some pix to whet your palate, eh?

 

The Cameron Highlands Resort is one of the pieces of real estate owned by Tan Sri Francis Yeoh.

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The award-winning Tanjong Jara Resort with its two swimming pools.

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YTL has some award-winning real estate. This includes Pangkor Laut Resort, Tanjong Jara Resort and Cameron Highlands Resort. His hotel brands are Ritz-Carlton, Spa Village, J W Marriott and The Majestic in Malacca.

The group also has Malaysia’s fastest growing cement company in the country. It is the first ready-mix concrete company and the second largest cement company in Malaysia with annual production capacity of 6.1 million tonnes.

And not to mention the ultra premium properties like those Sentul and those Pantai Hill Park, Kerinchi.

Missing in Gunung Brinchang Cameron Highlands

Whenever you go for hiking adventure in Cameron Highlands do be careful! For instance this navy man that went missing in Gunung Brinchang, Cameron Highlands. This was not the first time I have come across this kind of jungle hiking misadventures, especially the Mount Brinchang trail #1!

Search on for missing navy man
Friday August 6, 2010

IPOH: A 70-man search and rescue team has been assembled to look for a navy man missing in Gunung Brinchang in Cameron Highlands.

Leftenan Mohd Al-Amin Rohizas had gone climbing alone on Sunday morning. When he failed to return home on Monday, his mother lodged a missing persons report.

Cameron Highlands OCPD Deputy Superintendent Wan Mohd Zahari Wan Busu said a rescue party, consisting of men from the army and police, was assembled on Tuesday afternoon. The search was hampered by heavy rain.

"Their search is centred around a 4km radius of the Brinchang Dam," DSP Wan Mohd Zahari said.

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Missing navy man found 120km away
Sunday August 8, 2010

IPOH: The navy man who went missing after a hike up Gu­­nung Brinchang in Cameron Highlands last Sunday has been found.

Cameron Highlands OCPD Deputy Supt Wan Mohd Zahari Wan Busu said Leftenan Mohd Al-Amin Rohizas, 27, was found at 8.30am yesterday at Masjid Kampung Terah in Gua Musang, Kelantan, some 120km away from where he went missing.

"He was found by villagers, who in turn informed us," he said here yesterday.

Mohd Al-Amin is being treated at the Cameron High­lands Hospital and is reported to be in stable condition.

It was reported that Lt Mohd Al-Amin had gone hiking alone on Aug 1. When he failed to return home the next day, his mother lodged a report. -- The Star News

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.

Committee to look into plight of farmers

Committee to look into plight of farmers
By Sylvia Looi
Friday July 16, 2010

A COMMITTEE will be set up to look into the land problem faced by Bertam Valley farmers, which recently sparked a tense standoff.

Tanah Rata assemblyman Ho Yip Kap said the Perak Government had instructed a committee to be formed by the district office to look into the problem faced by the farmers due to the construction of a 79km road linking Pos Beteau in Raub and Bertam Valley.

Spice up farm produce

Spice up farm produce
Friday July 9, 2010

MALAYSIAN farmers should be bold enough to cultivate new vegetable and fruit species to provide consumers with a wider choice, said Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) senior assistant director (regulatory) Suhaimi Ismail said.

He said the farmers were generally contented with their existing varieties as they were confident the wholesalers would buy their supplies.

He, however, said many farmers dared not plant new vegetable and fruit species for fear the wholesalers might not purchase them.

History About Police Fighting Against Communist

My hats off to them for taking the difficult road to protect the freedom of Malaysia during the Emergency period. And wonders of wonders, Paul Kiong also contacted me about trying to connect to a fellow police veteran whom he fought alongside. That's what you get for making the best website about Cameron Highlands! I get some unusual request, and of course get to meet interesting people! Though I have not met them face to face, just communicating with them is already intriguing enough! Perhaps one day I may get to meet up with them, then again some may be difficult like Roy Follows who is now residing in UK!

This post is rather dated but I was recently contacted by Paul. He asked me to google him and I found this article about him. Just thought I republished here to share about his experiences. - Jan.

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Cops of Yore
By Revathi Murugappan
Sunday March 25, 2007

To mark the 200th anniversary of the Royal Malaysia Police today, StarMag talks to three retired officers who served in earlier times, in different capacities but under the same oath to put nation before self.

Copping communists

FOR three years, he led a double life during which the slightest mistake could mean his death at the hands of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP).

Fortunately, Paul Kiong managed to keep up the pretence so well that he successfully completed his mission and emerged from the jungle unscathed.

For this immense act of bravery, he was awarded the Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa (SP) or Grand Knight of Valour, the country's highest medal for gallantry. Only 27 other people have been awarded the SP – often conferred posthumously – for acts of extraordinary courage or sacrifice for the nation.

At 63, Kiong still cuts a dashing figure. He has an unmistakable "policeman aura" about him – he still walks like a cop with his head held high and a ramrod straight back.

But as a young man fresh out of school, he wasn't sure what career path to take. So he applied to the Customs Department, the air force and the police. As luck would have it, the police were the first to respond and after a series of interviews, offered him a job in 1964.

Water Quality From Cameron Highlands Rivers

Stream investigators monitor water quality
Thursday July 1, 2010

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: Chew Lai Ling and Suhaimi Mamat are teachers in Cameron Highlands. Chew, 42, teaches music at her own Cameron Music School in Brinchang whilst Suhaimi, 28, teaches special education to students with learning disabilities at Sekolah Kebangsaan Tanah Rata.

One Saturday morning, Chew, Suhaimi and another 26 teachers voluntarily gave up their rest day to walk about outdoors. They were assigned to a "crime scene investigation" of a different kind.

They went to several locations and by the time they arrived at the final spot within this highland resort at about 4.30pm, the ambient temperature had rose to 30°C. At the final "crime scene," the team got the results. It was what they had expected and it was not a favourable one.

New Bertam Valley Road Causes Farmers to Protest

Tense standoff by farmers over road project
By Sylvia Looi and Ivan Loh
Wednesday June 30, 2010

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: About 400 farmers in Bertam Valley here blocked the main road for three hours to stop enforcement officers from tearing down their farms to make way for a road project.

The farmers used their vehicles to block the road, causing a 2km traffic jam. The standoff lasted from 8.30am until about 11.30am.

Several enforcement officers managed to enter the farms and remove flower pots and destroy vegetables by the side of the road.

Bertam Valley Village Deve­lopment and Security Committee (JKKK) chairman Tung Cheok Nam said: "Fortunately, no fights broke out."

He said Health Minister and MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai who is also the Pahang MCA chief and Pahang state executive council member Datuk Hoh Khai Mun arrived at the scene and asked the enforcement officers to stop their operations.

Foreign Workers Labour Shortage

Camerons tourism faces backlash over lack of foreign workers
Sunday June 20, 2010

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: Tourism in cool Cameron Highlands, famous for its tea plantations, vegetable and strawberry gardens, is "under threat."

And it has got nothing to do with intruders, just the lack of foreign workers. Hoteliers and tour operators said the lack of helping hands might lead to more tea plantations and vegetable farms closing down.

Hotelier Datuk Yee Shan Kon said there would be a chain reaction if the agriculture sector suffered.

"The butterfly farms, cactus gardens, souvenir shops, restaurants and sundry shops will also be affected. The entire wellness of the highlands will be affected," said Yee, who is managing director of four popular hotels here.

Cameron Highlands Tea Industry Labour Shortage

This is another case of the short-sightedness of Government. They always think the locals will willingly take up employment in all areas of work. They make some industry not able to approve certain work permits and hope the locals will take up the vacancy. So tell me, what happens when no locals take up those vacancy? Time to close shop and relocate elsewhere where at least can find people to work, perhaps China? Vietnam? India? That will be the end of the local industry.

Cameron Highlands is facing labour shortage because not many local people want to work in this kind of industry. I also come across many factories during my sales visit around Malaysia, and the owners tell me a similar story of their woes. I don't know why, but some of these people always think the government will take care of them, work when they like it, don't come to work when they don't feel like it. Then when the factory cannot tahan get into the red and close down, they make big complain that the factory owner run away and now no job to do. This tidak apa work attitude won't get them far. So much for Malaysia Boleh. Boleh-land is fast becoming tidak boleh-land.

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Labour shortage in tea industry
By Foong Thim Leng
Monday June 14, 2010

IPOH: The century-old tea industry in Cameron Highlands is facing the possibility of an untimely demise due to manpower shortage.

Two tea plantations there have already ceased operations due to lack of suitable workers and two more are operating at about 20% below full capacity, said Malaysian Tea Producers Association chairman Datuk Kesav Kumar Agarwal.

He said the plantations on 2,400ha of land needed 1,800 workers at any one time, 20% of whom had to be replaced annually.

Time for tea: Tourists enjoying the scenic view at the Bharat tea plantation at Cameron Valley. Tea plantations may cease operations if the labour shortage continues.

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"If the figures are not attained, tea production may cease in a decade or even sooner. The industry supports thousands of people directly through downstream activities like re-packing, logistics, trading, marketing and retailing.

"A significant number will be adversely affected by the untimely demise of the industry," he said.

Without local tea, he said Malaysians would then have to pay more for imported tea, adding that the country’s gross domestic product would also be affected.

"The Government can keep the industry alive by approving permits for Bangladeshis, who are willing to work in the agriculture sector and have a track record of success in this field," he said.

Kesav Kumar said the Government now only approved workers from countries like Kazakhstan, Uzbekis-tan, Pakistan and India but they were reluctant to work in agriculture-based industries.

The Home Ministry imposed a freeze on Bangladeshi workers in October 2007.

Kesav Kumar said it was impossible to employ locals as there was currently no unemployment in the Cameron Highlands.

He also appealed to the Govern­ment to allow foreign workers to be in the country for 10 years instead of five.

"The replacement worker has to be retrained and takes more than a year to become competent," he added.

Cameron Highlands has 2,500ha of vegetable farms, 480ha of flower gardens and 40ha of strawberry gardens, churning out RM580mil in annual sales.

"A significant attraction of what Cameron Highlands has for local and foreign tourists is the cool climate and the beautiful tea estates, flowers, strawberry and vegetable gardens. If they are gone, what will make visitors come?" said Kesav. -- The Star

Vegetable Prices Increasing

The local Malaysia news daily reported that the price of vegetables would increase by at least 30% due to low supply caused by the erratic weather and lack of workers.

Cameron Highlands Vegetable Growers Association secretary Chay Ee Mong was quoted by the daily as saying that the supply of beans, tomatoes and chillies would be affected.

He claimed that farmers were reluctant to plant vegetables as they were facing difficulties getting workers.

Some 80% of the vegetables planted in Cameron Highlands is for local consumption while the rest are exported to Singapore.


Prices soaring due to shortage of workers, claim farmers
By Foong Thim Leng
Monday June 7, 2010

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: Prices of vegetables have almost doubled since April partly due to a dearth of manpower, farmers here claimed.

Cameron Highlands Vegetable Farmers Association secretary Chay Ee Mong said the shortage of foreign workers had reached a critical stage, causing a steep hike in the cost of greens.

Vegetable prices from the highlands had increased between 50% and 100% since April, he added.


Good help: Chong (right) and his foreign workers harvesting brocolli in Brinchang.

Citing examples, Chay said English cabbage had gone up by 40 sen to RM1.60 per kilo, leafy mustard (sawi) price doubled to RM4, French beans (from RM2.50 to RM4), dwarf white mustard or siew pak choy (from RM1.50 to RM4), and tomato (from RM1 to RM1.50).

Vegetable farmers here are appealing to the Government to review a regulation on reducing the number of foreign workers from 2.5 million to 1.8 million.

They also want the Government to lift the ban on workers from Bangladesh.

Chay said the price hike was also a result of a reduction of imported vegetables due to natural disasters in countries like China.

Cameron Highlands produces 550 tonnes of vegetables daily, of which 80% is for the local market and the rest exported to Singapore.

Chay said many farmers were forced to operate with a skeleton crew and also work additional hours to meet demand because they had difficulties in hiring foreign workers.

"We hope the Government will approve the entry of 5,000 foreign workers, especially Bangladeshis, for farms here," he said yesterday.

The freeze on hiring Bangladeshi workers was re-introduced by the Home Ministry in October 2007 in view of the "scandals" surrounding their intake.

Chay said farmers preferred Bangladeshi workers because they were reliable, hard working and were prepared to work for more than five years.

He said only 10% of workers in Cameron Highlands were locals, comprising mainly orang asli.

A Brinchang farmer, Chong Sek Chuang, 47, said it took farmers about a year or two to train a new foreign worker.

By not extending their permits, he said Malaysia would become a training ground for workers.

"They can easily seek higher pay as skilled workers elsewhere," he said.

"We will lose whatever competitive advantage we have." -- The Star

Illegal land clearing for cultivation in Cameron Highlands

Sultan of Pahang upset with illegal land clearing for cultivation in Cameron Highlands
By Nik Naizi Husin
Saturday May 29, 2010

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: Illegal land clearing for cultivation has become a big problem in Cameron Highlands that it has prompted a call from the Sultan of Pahang himself.

Sultan Ahmad Shah Sultan Abu Bakar said he had received complaints and assured that the Government would take stern action against the culprits, especially those involved in the most recent case in Kampung Lemoi.

He gave assurance to the orang asli community living there that the issue would be looked into.

We are here for you: The Sultan talking to the orang asli during his visit to Kampung Manson.

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Twelve hectares of land on the orang asli settlement in Kampung Lemoi was found to have been illegally cleared and cultivated.

"I have told the district officer (Datuk Mohd Noor Abdul Rani) to do the necessary pertaining to this matter," the Sultan told the orang asli during his visit to Kampung Manson recently.

He said police would be called to assist, if the need arose, in taking actions against those responsible for the land clearing.

He said there were also some who were given approval by the Government to open up land for cultivation but due to greed, went beyond the total hectarage approved.

He warned that the temporary operating licences of these greedy individuals could be cancelled.

Sultan Ahmad Shah said there had to be proper control on land clearing and excessive development in Cameron Highlands.

"It is a tourist spot visited by people from all over the world, so we do not want the environment to be affected by the illegal land clearing.

"If the environment is not protected, this area will face problems in future, such as disrupted water supply," he said, while commending efforts taken by the relevant authorities to tackle the illegal activity.

"I would also like to thank television stations for highlighting this issue for the Government to take note," he added.

New Route to Cameron Highlands from Kuala Lipis to Bertam Valley

Earlier, the Sultan was briefed by Mohd Noor on the new road from Sungai Koyan (in Kuala Lipis) to Lembah Bertam (in Cameron Highlands).

The 79km route is scheduled for completion in August. Work is in progress on the final stretch of 11km.

Sultan Ahmad Shah said that once the road was completed, all buildings next to the road would be vacated.

"I am satisfied with the progress of this project. It is targetted to open by Aug 26," he added.

The new road will be the fourth access to Cameron Highlands, apart from the routes from Tapah, Simpang Pulai (both in Perak) and Gua Musang (Kelantan). -- The Star