More Forest Reserve Land in the Klang Valley Expected to be Gone

Another headline news on the degazettement of forest reserve land that will be making way for urban development in Puchong:

The Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve is one of the last remaining significant forest cover in the urban Klang Valley area. Many years ago, I already had a suspicion that greedy developers (and their government counterparts) wont leave such strategic and precious forest land alone for long as developing it would yield tonnes of profits for far too many interested parties that it will look stupid on them to not do anything with it. This piece of news confirms the degazettement of this significant forest reserve within the city (a total of 68.4 ha to be precise).

This satelitte image shows the location of the Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve in Puchong. It is one of the last remaining significant forest cover within the Klang Valley.

The parts that have been earmarked for future development is located around the northwestern corner of the forest reserve (near the Saraka Appartments). This trend likely wont stop here because as the city grows, so will demand for more housing. This will put pressure on state authorities to degazette more forest land for urban development. Opportunistic developers will obviously be lobbying behind the scenes to tempt stakeholders into opening up more forest land in the city.

The same trend can already be seen in the Mont Kiara area. As Mont Kiara proper is already fully saturated with development, the only way for any development to expand is on the forested lands of Bukit Kiara Hill itself (towards Segambut Dalam area).

Satellite image showing the forested area of Bukit Kiara located next to Mont Kiara proper. Some landed property (Serene Kiara) have already been developed in the middle of the hill as seen on the map.

The Kampung Segambut Dalam area as seen from my childhood home in Mont Kiara Pines. Still very green and forested back then.

Mont Kiara was surrounded by greenery back then. Certainly did not feel like the concrete jungle it is today. View as seen from my childhood home in Mont Kiara Pines.

When I was growing up in the Mont Kiara area, I recall the area towards the Bukit Kiara Hills completely covered in lush greenery. There were certainly very few high rises on this side of town and only the squatter Kampung Segambut Dalam lies there. Fast forward to today (2026), even Kampung Segambut Dalam is dissappearing and being replaced by forest of high rises. When there's no more kampung land to develop, the developers will certainly encroach into the forested Bukit Kiara Hill to expand their development plan of Mont Kiara. It's not a matter of if but when. This is sadly the trend in urban areas whereby forest cover is sacrificed for urban development as the population continues to grow and the demand for housing follows accordingly. There will come a day where the Bukit Kiara forest cover will be completely lost and inevitably be replaced by concrete jungle.

Malaysia Rapidly Losing Its Precious Coral Cover

 Firstly, the news:

 

 These headlines in a way confirms the underwater trend that has been happening in recent times.

 

I have been monitoring these trends out of fascination for sometime now since my underwater dive back then in 2014 in Pulau Redang, Terengganu. I recalled the coral forest back then was simply mesmerizing and certainly captivated my imagination till today. Though I've not been underwater in Terengganu waters in recent times, I do notice the consequence of what's happening underwater through soaring seafood prices in the market. Over the past decade the prices of local fish and seafood in general has soared. This is not solely due to inflation but also the result of diminishing supply of fish and ever increasing demand of seafood consumers.

 

Snorkeling around the Redang coral garden left me with a truly mesmerizing experience seeing brilliant colors of coral in Terengganu waters.

 

I even rarely find certain types of fish in the market these days like the ikan gelama and ikan lemoh which I love eating. And this phenomenon is not just constrained to the big city (KL). Believe it or not, but I can't even get locally sourced fish while I was in Kemaman, Terengganu (my home state) which is surprising given that Terengganu a coastal state whose traditional economy relies on the fishing industry, struggles to feed it's populace with locally harvested seafood (by local I mean caught by Terengganu fishing boats). All the stalls in the Kemaman market (Pasar Borong Dusun Nyior) except one, sells fish mainly sourced from Kuantan instead of Kemaman. That came as a surprise because as I've been buying seafood sourced from Kemaman all this while even dating back to the times of my late maternal grandfather. 

 

My late grandfather was spoiled by choice when buying seafood at the Kuala Kemaman fish market.
 

 The plentiful of seafood variety in the Kuala Kemaman fish market on any given day back then (this picture was taken back in 2010)

 

This phenomenon has several factors at play. Firstly, there's fewer manpower working in the fishing industry these days. As more and more older generation fisherman retire due to age catching up, there are not many younger generation fisherman replacing them. To start off with, the younger generation are not attracted to become fisherman as it is seen as not being rewarding despite the risk faced and hard work involved. Secondly, the fishing business as a whole is becoming less profitable as fish stock continue to shrink. Traditional fishing boats (like the ones that ply the Terengganu waters) need a certain amount of catch to cover the fuel and manpower expense of the vessel for every voyage out to sea. If they return with very little or no catch despite scouring the sea, then they lose money. With less fish stock in sea, the fishing business becomes more challenging. The success of a fishing voyage heavily relies on highly skilled tekong (boat captain) to pin point likely locations of catching schools of fish. To make matters worse, experienced tekongs are hard to come by these days as the older ones retire. This has forced industry players to hire experienced expat tekongs from Thailand which comes at a cost.

 

 Comparison of healthy coral reefs (multitude of brilliant colors) vs bleached coral reefs (all whitish)

 

Back to the related topic of depleting coral cover. This is not a local phenomenon as we also hear of similar news like this all over the world. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia has also lost almost half of its coral cover over the years. All this is attributed to the effects of climate change or rather global warming. As global temperatures rise, so does the seawater temperature. And when seawater temperature rises above a certain threshold for a prolonged period, the algae (zooxanthellae) that lives in the coral dies which eventually causes the coral to bleach (loses its colorful lustre) and die. When corals die, so does the ecosystems that surround it. This explains why there's less fish stock in the sea these days which leads to soaring seafood prices in the market as I have observed. This is certainly not an easy trend to reverse as it involves a coordinated global effort to mitigate climate change and global warming. Until humankind gets its act together, we'll probably have to get used to seeing more of this kind of news in the near future. 

 

 

 

We Fell In Love with the Fraser's Hills and Decided to Buy A Piece of It

We fell in love with the Fraser's Hills since our first visit back in 2016. Since then we have made multiple getaway trips to the hills when ever the opportunity arise. After every visit there, we felt fully recharged and rejuvenated thanks to the fresh oxygen rich mountain air. That was when it dawned upon us to own a piece of real estate up the hills. It made every sense since we were already making frequent trips up the hills. The rentals at Silverpark or even the Smokehouse are already trending up as there are not many options for lodging on the hills.

We saw potential in the hills given its protected unique environment of lush virgin jungles and fresh mountain air. One can own a luxurious home in the poshest of KL city's neighborhood but what you wont get is the clean fresh air and a serene environment surrounded by lush greenery free from the hustle and bustle of a big city. More importantly, the Fraser's Hills has yet to be spoiled by the detriments of mass commercial tourism like what's seen at Genting Highlands and the Cameron Highlands. Along with mass tourism comes the inevitable environmental decline due to overdevelopment. Nothing of that sort has set foot in the Fraser's Hills to date (fingers crossed that it never will).

The Fraser's Silverpark apartments sit uniquely atop the peak of the Fraser's Hills. It's feng shui is ideal given the flowing wind on the summit of the hill and its obvious position on high ground overlooking the valley down below (which also happens to have a little stream running through it). With elements of flowing wind and water, it certainly fits the bill for good feng shui criteria.

An often overlooked but important aspect is that the Fraser's Silverpark apartments also happen to sit on the only plot of freehold land in the entire Fraser's Hills. Other plots of land around the hills are leasehold. These include the many colonial bungalows that dot the hills. Being freehold titled certainly increases the value of the property as it is not subjected to lease renewals and the uncertainties that comes with it. This anomaly was apparently due to the developers of Silverpark acquiring an old colonial bungalow that sat on the land where Silverpark was developed. That property was a freehold titled property hence when Silverpark was developed it inherited that same property status. A huge plus point indeed.

The original state of the living room as seen during the viewing.

The Fraser's Hills being about a 2 hours non-stop drive from Kuala Lumpur is indeed a convenient hilltop retreat for those seeking a rejuvenating get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. Unlike the Cameron Highlands which is a longer journey from KL (and also a more winding one), the Fraser's Hills also has less traffic hence providing a more certain traveling time up the hills.

The original state of the masterbedroom as seen during the viewing.

Original state of the dining hall as seen during the viewing.

View from the balcony


We viewed several apartment units in the Silverpark Resort with serious intent of purchasing on multiple trips up there before finally having affinity with our to be home atop the hills at Block C3. The moment we walked into this particular unit, everything felt right and I for certain know that this was the one. The view from the balcony faces southwards to the valley down below (in the direction of the golf course). It overlooks the Methodist Bungalow on the opposite hilltop in the southward direction. The apartment has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining hall and a living room which makes it a cosy home in a hilltop setting.

We drew inspiration for a home in the mountains from our trip to Interlaken, Switzerland back in 2015. My wife and I instantly fell in love with the mountain town of Interlaken and its cosy traditional Swiss homes. This apartment in the Fraser's Silverpark Resort felt the same way in many ways and would certainly be our very own weekend "tropical Interlaken" not too far from home.

Cosy mountain home in Interlaken, Switzerland that inspired us.

We eventually sealed the deal later in the year and received the property title early the following year.

Mud Floods Hit the Cameron Highlands Again - This Time Higher Up

As expected the mud floods are back again to ravage the beautiful Cameron Highlands. This time the quiet hilltop town of Ringlet was the victim of nature's fury. In 2014 (as per my older posting), severe mud floods caused casualties and heavy economic loses to the Bertam Valley which is located at an elevation just below Ringlet. That was due to heavy rains which forced the authorities to release water from the heavily silted Ringlet Dam to prevent it from overflowing or worse, bursting. This time around, the mud floods happen at Ringlet which is at a much higher elevation than the Bertam Valley. This can only mean that the deforestation in the Cameron Highlands have gone from bad to worse as towns located higher up on the mountain are now prone to mud floods. When the trees are chopped down, the soil that it holds together become exposed to the heavy rainfall. The soil eventually dislodges and travel together with the rainwater hence causing severe mud floods.

The fact that this is now happening at higher elevations goes to show that deforestation is taking place closer to the top to open up new farmlands. The vegetable and fruit industry is a big money making industry in the highlands and as land eventually get used up at lower elevations, the farmers move higher up in search of more pristine swathes of land which also have cooler climes. The higher the elevation the cooler the climate and the better it is for vegetable and fruit farming.

Again the never ending debate between economic development and preserving nature comes into the picture. Malaysia being a developing nation, the tendency to favor economic development over preserving nature is always higher. Sadly, this comes at a high cost and and even bleaker long term outlook. It is due time for people to reflect upon short term economic gains versus a destroyed natural environment that might be gone forever.

The full newspaper report (dated 18th of May 2017) can be read as shown below:

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: The floods may have receded but residents at Kampung Baru Ringlet are preparing for the worst.

On Tuesday, a two-hour downpour caused a flash flood, affecting the police station there too.

Retired policeman Jamil Abdul­lah, 59, whose house is near the riverbank at the village, described the rainfall as “extraordinary”.

“I knew something was going to happen,” said Jamil, who shifted to Ringlet after the 2013 floods in Bertam.

“After that incident, the authorities built a barrier right beside the riverbank but this proved to be inadequate.

“On Tuesday, the river was moving swiftly and I had a feeling that it would break part of the barrier. And that happened, with water entering our home,” he told reporters in front of his residence.

Worried that another flood might occur, Jamil stored his valuables in a safe area and placed sandbags to reduce the impact of the overflowing river.

“I did not want to take any chance. I have experienced five floods since 2013. It is sickening but what can we do. We have spoken to the authorities so many times but there is no change,” said the visibly frustrated Jamil.

His neighbour A. Ganesan, 52, said floodwaters did not enter his hall because he built a small wall in front of his house door.

Wash out: Children looking for things to salvage among the debris after the flashflood hit Ringlet town in Cameron Highlands. — RONNIE CHIN/The Star

Water, however, entered his kitchen but the damage was not severe.

“The authorities will need to find a temporary solution to make sure that water does not enter our homes. We are really worried. We do not want another Bertam incident to happen. I want an end to all this,” he said.

Cameron Highlands OCPD Depu­ty Supt Hasadid A. Hamid said hea­vy rainfall since 5pm on Tuesday caused several areas to be inundated, affecting three police barracks and the Ringlet police station.

“No one was injured. The police station was not damaged,” he ad­­ded.

DSP Hasadid said the floods lasted for about 30 minutes and waters began to recede at around 6pm.

Cameron Highlands DID engineer Tengku Suhaili Tengku Abbas said the department was looking at a long-term solution.

“For now, we will build barricades near the riverbanks but from July onwards, DID will start work to widen the river,” he added.

Tengku Suhaili said an eviction notice was given to 31 families in April but they had till July to vacate.

Malaysia's Highland Getaways - Cameron Highlands

Cameron Highlands is famed for its vegetable and tea plantations. However in recent years, deforestation and land clearing to make way for more farms and plantations have become even more rampant. This has resulted in damage to the once pristine environment there. Nevertheless, it still retains its charm as probably the best colonial era hill station retreat in Malaysia. It was my return to these very highlands that I so adore after 12 years. The last time I set foot on the Cameron Highlands was in year 2004 during my ascent of Mount Irau. These highlands were where my mountain adventures first begun. I regard the Cameron Highlands as my training ground for my high altitude adventures and it will always have a special place in my heart.

Colonial charm of the Cameron Highlands hill station retreat.

The difference these days are the large crowds of local tourists flooding the Cameron Highlands. There was a massive traffic jam on the way to the town of Tana Rata from Ringlet. We did not even move more than 1 meter for 30 minutes and decided to turn back to Ringlet. This was not heard off those days. the existing infrastructure of the Cameron Highlands simply cannot cater for the huge number of tourists visiting the highlands.

Bharat tea plantation estate.

We stayed at the well preserved colonial era Lakehouse boutique hotel. The interior of the hotel is just as unique as its exterior. However the beauty of the property was marred by a noisy 24 hour dredging activity in the opposite lake. The dredging is to remove thick build up of silt inside the lake which has caused the Sultan Abu Bakar reservoir to become shallower. In 2014, the rainy season had brought unexpectedly large volumes of water to the small reservoir and prompted the authorities to release the water into the low lying Bertam valley below to avoid the dam from bursting. This had brought immeasurable destruction of lives and property to the entire Bertam Valley area and sent 

vegetable prices soaring for almost a year.  

The 24 hour dredging activity ongoing in the Ringlet reservoir. 

The Lakehouse boutique hotel.

At the terrace of the Lakehouse.

Malaysia's Highland Getaways - Fraser's Hill

Fraser's Hill is perhaps the least visited highland retreat among the big 3 in peninsular Malaysia namely Genting Highlands, Cameron Highlands and Fraser's Hill itself. But make no mistake that despite its relatively low key reputation, it has lots of hidden surprises to offer. I particularly like Fraser's Hill because of its well preserved natural environment. This is perhaps the positive spin off of being less touristy. During my visit there, I felt that the environment is significantly cooler and mistier compared to the Genting Highlands which has been overrun by massive hotel structures. The fresh mountain air felt revitalizing and I had not breath such good quality air in quite a while.

The infrastructure of the Fraser's Hill does not cater to mass tourism to levels of Genting Highlands. The narrow and winding roads and limited parking space as well as limited number of hotels are just reasons that the place cannot take in huge crowds of tourists. Perhaps three bus loads of tourists would already make the Fraser's Hill town center look congested. However despite the limitations of its infrastructure, the one thing that I liked was that the road leading up to the top from the Gap is a one way road with not much traffic to it. Although it is a narrow and wining road, one can rest assure that no traffic comes from the opposite direction as it is strictly one way up from one side and one way down from another side.

An old photo of Fraser's Hill showing what it looked like in the past.

Don't be fooled by Fraser's Hill quiet and serene nature as it has also got some history to it. Named after the British adventurer-businessman Louis James Fraser, the mountain started off as a tin mining outpost founded by Mr. Fraser himself in the 1890s. At that time, the British army had not yet explored the virgin jungles of the Titiwangsa mountain range hence Mr. Fraser set out on an adventure to the mountains in search of areas with potential tin mining reserves. His efforts came to fruition when he stumbled upon rich deposits of tin ore in the areas surrounding the Fraser's Hill. He recruited Chinese coolies to mine the tin ore and build the mountain road to transport the mined ore to the nearby town of Raub in central Pahang. Being the shrewd businessman he was, he set up opium dens on the mountain which also served as gambling dens to cater for his Chinese workers whom which he profited from the salary he paid to them. Perhaps it was Mr. Fraser's destiny to vanish without any traces within the mountains he spent a lot of his time exploiting. He was never found ever since and only left behind his name for the mountain he so dearly loved. With his disappearance, the hill outpost was left to be taken back by nature until in year 1917 J. Ferguson Davie who was the Bishop of Singapore set out to rediscover the mining outpost left behind by Mr. Fraser. He saw its tourism potential and came up with the idea of making the Fraser's Hill a hill station retreat. The rest as they say is history.

Our journey to the Fraser's Hill was very interesting as we passed through the little known Hulu Selangor countryside which offered beautiful lush forested vistas not typical of the urban Selangor that we are used to. When one mentions the state of Selangor, industrial places like Shah Alam, Petaling Jaya or Subang Jaya usually first comes to mind. We took the exit at Lembah Beringin and headed towards the foothill of Fraser's Hill passing through a series of plantation villages along the way. Lembah Beringin is an abandoned housing project which looked like some kind of nuclear war apocalypse aftermath. Lembah Beringin was conceptualized as a dream housing development within an orchard overlooking the beautiful Titiwangsa mountains. However, the reality of the project did not reflect its dream-like concept and eventually it fell into disregard. Driving through the site gave us the creeps as it was clearly evident that nature has partially claimed back the site.

The abandoned housing project of Lembah Beringin. 

                            

The sleepy plantation town of Kerling on the way to the foothill of the Titiwangsa mountains.

We drove passed what was probably the most beautiful part of the journey at the Selangor Reservoir area which offered open vistas of the lake and the surrounding mountains. A photo stop is very hard to resist here.

Overlooking the beautiful Selangor Reservoir.

Upon reaching "The Gap" outpost, it becomes a one way narrow and winding road all the way to the top of Fraser's Hill where the hill station town lies. Driving up this narrow and winding road can be quite dizzying for some people especially those prone to motion sickness. It is suggested that regular pits stops are taken along the way to breathe the fresh oxygen rich mountain air in order to overcome motion sickness. The famous clock tower located right in the middle of town greets visitors upon reaching the top of the hill. This clock tower is probably the most recognizable landmark of the Fraser's Hills.

The famous Fraser's Hill clock tower which is probably the most recognizable icon of the hill. 

We stayed at the Fraser's Silverpark apartment resort which is located at the highest point of the Fraser's Hill. This apartment complex is largely abandoned despite its ideal location perched on top of a windy and scenic peak. I was told that the developers of the apartment went bust after the project was completed hence the entire running of the complex had to be undertaken by the owners. Unfortunately collection of apartment maintenance fees was a big problem and many of the owners did not pay up as they had lost confidence in the project. To make things worse there are so many owners and many of them foreigners from Hong Kong and Singapore which makes reaching them a hassle. Some of the apartment units are evidently being taken back by nature with thick undergrowth growing in the balcony and probably inside the unit too. Most of the units were empty and the entire place had an eerie feeling to it.   

The Fraser's Silverpark apartments resort.

Thick undergrowth seen growing inside the unit. The building facade clearly defaced by moss as a result of the damp air.

We left the hills with good memories and a pleasant relaxed mind. The body feels recharged and rejuvinated. Afterall, the serene calmness of the environment there helps people leave behind their stress and worries of the big city. Indeed there is truth that going back to nature certainly heals the mind, body, sprit and soul.

Malaysia's Highland Getaways - Genting Highlands

Malaysia's Titiwangsa mountain range not only serves as the backbone of the peninsular which is an important water catchment area rich in flora and fauna. The main range as it is also known, is an important tourism draw which generates millions of tourists dollars as revenue to the country's economy. Situated close to the equator, Malaysia enjoys warm tropical climate all year round. However for some Malaysians, they would like to get away from the hot and sticky climate to experience cooler climes. These mountains serve as the ideal getaway close to home without having to travel overseas and lose out on the exchange rate in view of the drastically depreciating ringgit. A retreat to the mountains also gives people the opportunity to clear their lungs from all that choking city smog and breathe fresh oxygen rich mountain air.

I will be writing about 3 of the most popular highland getaways in Peninsular Malaysia which I happen to have also visited recently starting with the most popular one, Genting Highlands.

Genting Highlands

View of the surroundings at Genting Highlands from the Awana Resort.

The Genting Highlands resort is undoubtedly the most popular in terms of number of visitors (both domestic and foreign) as its proximity to the Klang Valley results in only an hour's drive from Kuala Lumpur. It also has the best infrastructure among the other highland resorts such as good quality and wide roads leading up to the peak (dual carriageways from foothill to top). This is a very important factor to cater for mass tourism as big buses and larger vehicles usually have problems navigating up narrow and winding mountain roads which are single lane. In addition to good roads, cable cars are another option of getting to the top of Genting. 

The biggest draw to the Genting Highlands is obviously the casino and theme park. Most tourists come up here for either one or both of these reasons. The entire Genting Highlands resort was a project started by its founder, the late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong who was a migrant from Fujian province in China between the 1960s and 1970s. At that time, people were laughing at his idea of building a resort on top of a remote and inaccessible mountain and deemed it doomed to fail. However it is clearly evident today that he has proven his critics wrong with Genting Highlands being a huge tourist magnate. The casino at the peak of Genting Highlands is Malaysia's one and only up till now as the Malaysian government has never granted anymore casino licenses ever since. 

Memorial of Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, the founder of Genting Highlands located at Gohtong Jaya.

If you are not so much of a gambler or a theme park enthusiast then you might be hugely disappointed with a visit to Genting Highlands as the hordes of tourists bumping into you doesn't differ much from the feeling of being in a busy city center. There are not that many pristine hiking trails around the Genting Highlands with the exception of Gunung Bunga Buah which is one of the nearby peaks. Its trailhead is accessed from the midway town of Gohtong Jaya behind the Seri Malaysia hotel. A hike up and down this peak typically takes between 5-8 hours depending on your level of fitness and the weather of the day. 

The busy and vibrant city of entertainment at the top of Genting Highland resort.

  There are also many hotel resorts to choose about in Genting Highlands ranging from very expensive luxury ones to the mid range and budget options. While I was there, I stayed in the Awana Genting Highlands resort which is a very old signature hotel of the Genting Highlands. It is also the only hotel in Genting Highlands that has a 18-hole golf course. To be honest, it wasn't a very pleasant stay as the rooms were very dusty and I kept sneezing as a result of that. The dust came from the curtains and carpet which were probably not washed in a very long time. I also find that the hotel rates are rather exorbitant for the value they offer. Just 4 years back they offered around RM180 per night for a double room but this time when I was there, for the same room the price has gone up to RM600 per night! That's a price hike of more than 3 times in a span of 4 years! Not to mention, the quality of the breakfast this time around has significantly disimproved. 

At the Awana Genting Highlands Resort.

 Anyway, being the nature loving person I am, I wasn't there for the casino nor the theme park. The nature walk in a nearby trail close to the Awana resort was the highlight of my trip to the Genting Highlands. This was also a good reason for a quick escape from the hazy air of Kuala Lumpur during the dry season. My wife and I did the jungle trek within 3 hours which is about the average time taken for the trail. It is basically a loop trail that starts from the Awana resort's team building camp site. With Awana resort being located at midway up the mountain, it is relatively low in elevation hence trekking at this level would be together with the company of mosquitoes and leeches. My wife in particular is not a big fan of leeches and would literally jump and yell at the sight of it. For most part of the nature walk, I was occupied with the job of removing leeches from my wife's feet. As for me, I am used to leeches feasting on my blood. 

Going up the nature trail closeby to Awana Genting Highlands resort.

 The trail is of moderate difficulty whereby it starts off as a descend into a valley where a small stream flows. The stream was evidently murky as a result of nearby construction. In fact the noise from the construction could be heard throughout the nature walk. Apparently there is a boom in vacation property throughout the Genting Highlands to cater for the expected increase in tourist arrivals once the Fox Studios theme park is open hence a number of apartments have been mushrooming around the area. As always, development will take its ugly toll on nature and the losers in this case is the pristine jungles of the highlands.

At a stream along the trail. However the water was evidently murky as a result of nearby construction.

Sounds of the gibbons calling echo throughout the jungle although we couldn't see them. But the question is for how long more if all these development continue encroaching into the virgin jungle? The last portion of the trail was a strenuous hike upwards all the way back to the starting point. 

This jungle trek just did not seem as pristine as those that I have previously done in other parts of the Titiwangsa mountain range. The Genting Highlands is at a point where the tourism boom is starting to take a toll on the natural environment. Once the Fox Studios theme park officially opens in 2017/2018, it will undoubtedly draw larger crowds of tourists to the highlands which will mean more revenue for the Genting Group and its chain of beneficiaries. Already we can see more vacation apartments such as Windmills Upon the Hills and Ion Delemen just to name a few, sprouting up to tap the spike in property demand there. There is indeed a lot of money to be made for these property developers but a fine balance between modern development and preserving the environment is crucial to ensure that our delicate highland ecosystem remains healthy and sustainable for the benefit of everyone.