Report: Educational Visit to Dato’ Henry Barlow’s Genting Tea Estate
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| Photo: Jimmy Chew |
After a 5-year hiatus brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, MNS legend, conservationist, and natural historian Dato' Henry Barlow has resumed hosting visits to his private residence at Genting Tea Estate ('GTE'), an event that had previously been an annual MNS tradition.
MNS stalwarts would no doubt be familiar with the fact that Dato' Barlow was the Honorary Treasurer of the Board of Trustees of MNS from 1971 to 1998 and retired as the Chairman of the MNS Board of Trustees only in 2000.
From 1983, Dato' Barlow, who is also an avid natural historian, has been responsible for seeing through press all the 18 planned and now completed volumes of Dr J.D. Holloway’s 'The Moths of Borneo' series. Dato' Barlow authored and published 'An Introduction to the Moths of South East Asia' in 1983 and the biography of Frank Swettenham in 1995, and is the Principal Revisor of H.F. Macmillan’s 'Tropical Planting & Gardening' in 1991.
28 MNS members had the privilege of accepting Dato' Barlow's invitation and participating in the visit that was coordinated by Selangor Branch's Pathfinders Special Interest Group (SIG). Pathfinders' leading men Jimmy Chew, Joseph Lee, and KK Tan arranged for participants to meet at McDonalds Genting Sempah early on the morning of 6 July 2025 and to carpool in a convoy to GTE. Dato' Barlow's estate manager Mr. Simon Hok opened the gate for us and welcomed us to GTE, although he was most unfortunately unable to lead us due to a particularly infectious cold. After a short briefing on etiquette and safety protocols by Jimmy, the participants filed up the staircase to the residence to meet Dato' Barlow in his spacious and elegant living room overlooking his vast garden. Dato' Barlow's housekeeping team welcomed us with cold lime juice and we sat down to learn about the history of the estate and heritage building.
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| Photo: Joseph Lee |
Dato' Barlow's private residence at Genting Tea Estate was previously owned by famed Malaysian Chinese businessman Choo Kia Peng. During the Malayan Emergency, the residence was also used by British troops stationed in the area. Dato' Barlow purchased the residence in 1971. Under Dato' Barlow's management and care, Genting Tea Estate was transformed into an arboretum which is home to many rare and endangered native trees and a habitat for local wildlife. To thank Dato' Barlow for his hospitality, MNS Selangor Branch Acting Chair Wong Ee Lynn presented Dato' Barlow with a token of appreciation from Selangor Branch. A very special and meaningful gift was then presented to Dato' Barlow by participant Alan Ng. Alan had photographed a bat flower, (Tacca sp.), at GTE approximately 23 years ago and Dato' Barlow had admired the photograph he took. Alan then made the special effort to manually print the same photograph and frame it for Dato' Barlow. The gift was duly admired by all the attendees and displayed by Dato' Barlow among his book and butterfly collection.
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| Photo: Jimmy Chew |
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| Photo: Jimmy Chew |
As Dato' Barlow had recently undergone a knee surgery, he was unable to accompany us on our walk through GTE. Resident entomologist Sofwan Badr, who had previously been a guest speaker on moths and butterflies at the MNS Selangor Branch Open Day in 2024, led the interpretive walk instead and entertained our questions. The participants spotted and observed rare trees including the Bentong tree from which Bentong town derived its name. We also spotted a green bat flower (Tacca sp) which is a rare sight as the ones we usually spot are in shades of black and purple-brown. One of the highlights of the walk is a fruiting Rambai tree. We were allowed to sample the fruits, which were very tart but also very refreshing. At the end of the walk, we returned to the sunlit garden for a picnic lunch on the grass.
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| Photo: Haimon Franklin |
At 1 p.m. we were summoned indoors for a talk on the moths and butterflies of Malaysia by Sofwan Badr. We learned, among other things, that butterflies are specialised moths, and that there are many exceptions to the characteristics that we attribute to butterflies to distinguish them from moths, for example, the general rule that butterflies rest with their wings folded up while moths rest with their wings spread out. We were fascinated by his demonstration of pigment vs structural colour as we got to see the iridescence of butterfly wings, and learned why it is necessary to take and preserve butterfly specimens for taxonomy, instead of just photographing and releasing them. We were also shown how butterflies and moths were preserved for display and scientific data collection.
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| Photo: Lai Wah |
The final part of the visit was the purchase and autographing of books by Dato' Barlow himself. We left with arms full of books and unforgettable memories of our very educational visit to Dato' Barlow's elegant residence and a well-kept estate which now serves as a sanctuary for native flora and fauna. We thank Dato' Barlow for opening his home to us so generously, and to Sofwan Badr for sharing his knowledge with us so freely. We also wish Dato' Barlow a speedy recovery from his knee surgery.
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| Photo: Jimmy Chew |
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| Group photo: Jimmy Chew |
