MENTION Bentong and people think of the buttery, golden flesh of Musang King durian and ginger.
In the past, however, the notorious criminal Bentong Kali and popular Genting Highlands resort would be the topics of choice when talking about the town.
Go back decades and conversations would have centred on the communists said to be active in the jungles surrounding the town, making Bentong seen as a “black area”.
Lying in the shadows of hilltop holiday destinations, such as Genting Highlands, Bukit Tinggi and Fraser’s Hill, the quaint little town of Bentong is barely an hour’s drive from Kuala Lumpur.
During the day, vehicles and people fill the streets and sidewalks of Bentong, in particular Jalan Loke Yew, Jalan Ah Peng and Jalan Chui Yin.
As the clock strikes midnight, however, one can be forgiven for thinking that Bentong is a ghost town as the only signs of life are the buses and lorries plying the main road to and from Kelantan.
The pre-war buildings house grocery stores, financial institutions, restaurants, beauty parlours and mobile phone shops, while the colonial-style Chinese Assembly Hall is a favourite venue for public events like blood donation campaigns, dinner events, seminars and exhibitions.
Despite rapid development over the past decade, Bentong remains a laid-back town where the people enjoy a slow-paced life.
You can see a paperboy riding around the neighbourhood and eatery operators remembering customers’ preferences from earlier visits.
I spent my formative years in Bentong. It was normal then to enter a packed restaurant during weekends for breakfast and find patrons willing to share their table with strangers.
I remember a time before modern cafes, when a handful of coffee shops served toasted or steamed bread slices with smooth kaya lathered between them, along with hot coffee in old ceramic cups, throughout the day.
These days, however, the presence of cafes offering freshly ground coffee has forced such coffee shops to update their menus to survive.
Famous eateries include Kow Po Homemade Ice Cream, which has been operating for more than 40 years, Lemang To’Ki, which draws hundreds of big bikers on weekends, and Mr Crocodile, which offers licensed crocodile meat brought in from Sabah and Sarawak.
As a boy, I remember my parents taking me to the Happy Fried Chicken (HFC) outlet in town, the only so-called fast food joint in Bentong.
It was always packed and most of my friends celebrated their birthdays there, but the opening of a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet in the 1990s soon saw HFC close shop.
Soon, other fast food outlets, such as Pizza Hut, Marrybrown and Domino’s Pizza made their way to Bentong.
But there are things that happen here that give one the feeling that Bentong remains a small town.
For example, the man who delivers cooking gas cylinders. The gas delivery man is more than happy to install the cylinder and service the stove without extra charge, and leave only after having a cold glass of juice.
Then there are restaurant workers who are willing to send take-away meal orders to a customer’s car. It is common to hand your grocery list to the shop operator before returning later to pay for and collect your items.
There was a time, in the early 1990s, when Bentong used to boast three theatres. Sadly, the Cathay and Lyceum have since made way for development, while the Lido became a supermarket.
Rather than face the hustle and bustle of Kuala Lumpur, I remember travelling to Genting Highlands — a 45-minute drive from Bentong — with my friends on Fridays to catch the midnight shows at a cineplex. Now, people travel to Mentakab to watch movies at a shopping mall.
These days, I stay and work in Kuantan, but I return to Bentong regularly to visit my mother and grandmother.
Much like how I remember it when I was a boy, one still wakes up in the mornings to be greeted by a thick mist blanketing the surrounding areas until about 10am. How long this will remain is anyone’s guess.
Some say once the Central Spine Road project connecting Kuala Krai, Kelantan, to Simpang Pelangai, Bentong, is operational, Bentong will become secluded as the new road will bypass the town.
Looking at the slow but vibrant changes along the stretch near my house in Jalan Tras, I believe things will no longer be the same in the next 10 years.
The single carriageway stretch in front of my house, which is part of an alternative road connecting Bentong and Gua Musang, is packed with vehicles travelling in both directions.
The price of property in the area is rising faster than 15 years ago, and my mother tells me that real estate agents often drop by our place to enquire if she has any plans to sell the single-storey house built by my late grandfather decades ago.
Despite uncertainties surrounding the East Coast Rail Link project, housing and shops are mushrooming.
I can only hope that amid plans for development, Bentong will retain its charm.
As for me, our house built facing the Bentong-Raub main road has witnessed the transformation in the area and is a treasure trove of what our family experienced in the past.