The Planter’s Bungalow

Peter Jenkins

This 161-page book has many historical photos of colonial bungalows in Malaya where the British estate managers would stay.

The text is lovingly scripted. The Jenkins have also commissioned articles by retired estate managers. These in addition to some excerpts on estate living and reminiscences curated from old magazines add flavour to this gem of a book.

At a personal level, I am delighted to see a box article on the late Ted Miles and his beloved Shanghai Pahang Estate in Bentong. (p 116).

I visited Ted twice. On the 2nd visit, I brought along a friend and fellow law partner Dato Shamsul Bahrain. Ted was an excellent host. He regaled us with stories of his days teaching at the Bentong Methodist Boys School. He told me he was eyeing this bungalow and was delighted to be able to acquire it in 1964.

Another interesting story is on the Bala Holiday chalets at Cameron Highlands. Not many would know it used to be Cameron’s branch of the Singapore Tanglin School (p 116). One of my firm’s pupil’s families now owns Bala Holiday Chalets.

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