LIM JEE YUAN THE TRADITIONAL MALAY HOUSE- alaysia, like most other devel- ulation - those in most need of afford- tending to emphasize use-values rather oping countries, is faced with able housing. than market-values. massive housing problems. Conventional housing solutions have The traditional Malay house serves About 40 percent of the population of largely failed to house the majority in the housing needs of the majority of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, the Third World because they are too people living in rural areas of Malaysia. live in slums and squatter settlements. expensive, inappropriate, or tied to a It was evolved by the Malays over the Profiteering and speculation in hous- market controlled by speculators. Tra- generations, and adapted to their own ing have pushed house prices beyond ditional housing solutions, however, needs, culture, and environment. the means of most Malaysians. A 1982 have continued to serve many in the Basically a timber house with a post analysis of the total market demand for Third World. Traditional houses are in and lintel structure raised on stilts, with housing in Kuala Lumpur revealed 40 many ways the antithesis of conven- wooden, bamboo, or thatched walls percent was for housing stock for tional modern houses: cheap to con- and a thatched roof, the house is investment and speculation. The year struct, making intensive use of labour designed to suit the tropical climate. before, half of all land converted for rather than capital; adapted to the Ventilation and solar-control devices, housing in Malaysia was held by individual needs of the occupant; and and low thermal capacity building speculators. materials are part of the building heri- Even government low-cost housing tage. House construction is highlysys- schemes, which are considerably tematised, like a modern prefabricatibn cheaper than houses in the open system, but with a much higherdegree market because of subsidies and of flexibility and variation. The house lower land costs, are beyond the means components are made on the ground of most people. A study prepared for and later assembled on the building the Urban DevelopmentAuthorityfound site. A very sophisticated addition sys- that the cheapest Malaysian public tem, which allows the house to grow low-cost housing unit was beyond the with the needs of the user, is an advan- means of at least 80 percent of the tage for the poor because it allows lower income group of the urban pop- them to invest and build gradually, rather than shouldering one huge ini- nate the need for separate living and lieve the stress created by high tem- tial financial burden. sleeping quarters. peratures and humidity. Houses are The traditional Malay housing pro- Interior spaces are defined, not by randomly sited to ensure that the wind cess is highly autonomous, largely partitions orwalls, but rather by changes has relativelyfree passagethrough the controlled by the user. Guided by in floor level; they may be respected or community. Moreover, the velocity of building tradition and the village car- ignored, allowing the house to accom- wind increases with altitude and the penter, the owner-builder designs a modate larger numbers of people than traditional Malay house on stilts makes house that is uniquely suited to the usual during, for example, feasts. Thus the most of this phenomenon. Again, to family’s socioeconomic and cultural the traditional Malay house exhibits maximize ventilation, the house fea- situation. Not only does the traditional greater versatility and more efficient tures many full-length windows at an approach foster a better match of use of space than does the modern appropriate body height. These win- house to user, it keeps the cost down house, where spaces are limited to the dows can be left open most of the time by eliminating the need for pro- specific use determined bv furniture thanks to large overhangs which, in fessional intermediaries such as archi- and partititions. addition to offering protection from the tects or developers. Self-help and The traditional M&v house has, driving rain, exclude the open skies cooperative labour are the resources over the years, evolved a very efficieni from view and reduce the glare. upon which the owner-builder relies. addition system that grows according For religious reasons, most tradi- to the needs of its users. The core unit, tional Malay houses are oriented to THE HOUSE AND COMPOUND ortheiburumah, isthe basicliving unit face Mecca (i.e. in an east-west direc- The kampong (village) environment forthesmallorpoorfamily.Thekitchen tion). This orientation minimizes the is generally cool and shady, with lots of and toilet are often located on the number of areas exposed to direct solar radiation during the day and, hence, the heat gain in the building. Heat retention is minimized by the lightweight, natural construction mate- rials that have a low thermal capacity and the interior remains cool due tothe insulatingcapabilityoftheattap(thatch) roof. The traditional Malay house tends to be somewhat dark inside, which has the advantage of giving an impression of coolness; for practical purposes, however, the introduction of artificial lighting would be desirable. CONCLUSION AND LESSONS One of the main reasons for the massive, unsolved housing problem in the developing countries is that solu- tions based on western prototypes have been applied to the problem of housing the poor- solutions that are inappropriate, expensive, and alienat- ing, both physically and socially. The traditional Malay house, on the other hand, demonstrates that the housing problem can be efficiently solved by the users themselves, pro- vided they are given the necessary resources: land, finances, and the freedom to build. This may require appropriate government intervention, for example, to ensure that the people have land tenure security - or it may require the removal of inappropriate greenery. Paths are unpaved, and exterior. From the ibu rumah, many government mterventlon, as when new &mpo;nds are kept meticulously powbleadditionscan bemadeaslhe standards, rules, and bureaucracy clean. Spaces flow into one another family grows bigger or as it acquires take the decision-making rights from freely with few boundaries or obstruc- the means to build a bigger house. the people and give them to experts. tions. Unlike the roads of modern Additions are usually done in the One solution to the problem of urban housing estates, which tend to segre- spare time available during the agri- housing could be a prefabricated sys- gate and disintegrate, the absence of cultural or fishing off-seasons. Build- tem that is based on the traditional physical barriers in the kampong allows ing a traditional house is a continual Malay house - an approach that a flexibility in accommodating indivi- process, often taking months or even could lead to a more humane, socially dual needs that is not available under years to complete, with the pace of and ecologically sound urban envi- the imposed orderofthe modern hous- work and quality of construction con- ronment and one that fosters a strong ,ng estate. trolled by the user. sense of community. In so doing, we The traditional Malay house has an The basic addition possibilities are would be building on the positive open interior, promoting good cross- classified intothreedifferent types, but aspects of our indigenous heritage, ventilation and lighting and allowing thereareinfinitevariations ins&sand strengthening our cultural identity, the space to be used for many pur- heights, and various combinations of and developing the confidence for a poses depending on the season, oc- types and quality according to the more self-directed and self-reliant de casion, or time of day. Since most needs of the user. velopment. 0 activities take place on the floor, the CLIMATIC ADAPTATION need for furniture is minimal; bedding Lim Jee Yuan is a researchei/writer at the materials and sleeping mats are rolled The traditional Malay house features InstOA Masyarakaf Berhad (insfifufe for up and stored during the day to elimi- a number of adaptive devices to re- Society) in Penang, Malaysia. 16 .