Imperial Belvederes: The Hill Stations of Malaya

Hill stations owed their origin, early development, and widespread distribution to colonialism. Sometimes called "change-of-air stations" or "sanatoria," they were specialized highland outposts of colonial settlement that initially served as health and recreation centers for civil servants, planters, miners, and other expatriate Europeans, or as strategic bases and cantonments. Generally small and isolated, always defiantly out of place, they were insular little worlds that symbolized European power and exclusiveness. This book describes the origins, development, functional composition, and landscape characteristics of Malaya's four principal hill stations and attempts, through a liberal sprinkling of quotations, to reveal how visitors to the hill stations passed the time and what they thought or felt about the experience.