In the year 1906, Malaya was still under British administration. The London-based Kuala Lumpur Rubber Co. Ltd. (KLR) was incorporated on 19 May 1906 and it set out to plant rubber trees around Kuala Lumpur to capitalise on the booming rubber price brought about by the introduction of the modern motor-car and pneumatic rubber tyres as replacement for horse-drawn carriages in the United States. Among KLR's first board members were a Mr Edouard Bunge and Alfred Grisar, a Belgian. The two men's names were contracted to create the name Bunge-Grisar rubber estate or Bungsar Estate.