 Cameron Highlands was named after William Cameron, a British government surveyor who stumbled across a plateau in 1885 during a mapping expedition on the Titiwangsa Range. Failing to mark his discovery on the map, the location of the plateau was a finally confirmed by subsequent expeditions after which Sir Hugh Low suggested that this would be an ideal location for a retreat and farmland. A narrow path to the highlands was then cut through the dense jungles of the highlands.  Nothing much happened after that until 1925 when Sir George Maxwell visited the highlands and decided to develop it as a hill station. A development committee was then formed which functioned until 1931. Cameron Highlands was a haven for the British who were station in Malaya as it provided relief from the hot and humid tropical climate of the lowlands.
Once the road was constructed, wealthy residents and British government officials started building retreats on the slopes of the highlands. Later some settled here permanently and a business community developed. Farming was the main activity here at that time. In 1929, John Archibald Russell, who was the son of a British administrative officer started a tea plantation which is now the famous Boh Tea Plantation. The highlands developed successfully until the outbreak of World War II where the Japanese invasion in 1941 forced the British troops and civilians out of the highlands. The Japanese continued to administer the area since they saw the highlands farms as a vital food source for their troops. When the Japanese troops retreated from Malaya in 1945 the British gradually returned to the highlands until the independence of Malaya from the British in 1957.
Historical Landmarks - I.J. Convent Primary School, Tanah Rata  The Convent Primary School started as a boarding school called the Pensionnat Notre Dame, which was officially opened on 1st May 1935. The land was allocated by the then Sultan of Pahang on the condition that the building be used for educational purposes. Despite the many difficulties, the architect succeeded in erecting a boarding school second to none in the country.
With the boarding school in Cameron Highlands, the number of students increased but the outbreak of war brought this to an abrupt halt. The convent was transformed into a Japanese hospital during this period. At the end of the war, the school was reopened and transferred to temporary buildings to facilitate the education process that was needed now more than ever. The school was expanded by adding more huts and classrooms as the main building was being used by the British military. The Youth Centre was one of the huts used as part of the school. The sisters of the Convent lived in a bungalow across the road. When the British withdrew their troops in 1971, the Convent was handed over to the congregation where all efforts were taken to restore the building to schooling conditions by the sisters and pupils. A kindergarten and nursery were also opened to accommodate working teachers’ and parents’ children. The Convent continues to be operated as a national primary school alongside a church to this day and is a recognizable key landmark in Cameron Highlands. |
