REFERENCES

1) No Author. Melayuonline. Retrieved from http://melayuonline.com

2)Jamaludin, M.A.  Cultural landscape of traditional house compounds in Terengganu. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/

3)(Yuan, J). The traditional malay house. Under one roof. A world in city. Retrieved from http://www.sabrizain.org/malaya/library/malayhouse.pdf

Experience The Malay Traditional Kampung's Lifestyle

Most the Malay Traditional Houses can be found in rural area (kampung - village). It is built with Malay creativity and their affective bond with their nature and environment. The climate made a Malay Traditional House raised on timber stilts or piles to elevate the building above the ground level. It is due to heavy rainfall that sometimes brings flood. Although it use timber as main structure, amazingly it is build without a single nail, instead the Malays used pre-cut holes and grooves to fit the timber building elements into one another, effectively making it a ‘pre-fabricated house’. There are handcrafted panels, holed carvings and slatted panels around the walls.

Traditional house roofs are very steep and always have wide overhangs for shading and protection from heavy tropical downpours. In many cases, they have beautifully carved timber eaves to decorate the ‘visual connection’ between roof and sky. On the lawn, there are local flower plants and the usual daily used spices and herbs such as ginger, lemongrass, pandan leaves and ulam (local salads). We can also find the pangkin (long low bench) under the shade of mango or coconut trees, which is used to rest after a long tiring hard work. The women also use the pangkin to have their friendly chats with neighbors as well as enjoying raw mango dip with rojak sambal belacan! (A mixture of local sweet and spicy dip) On the backyard, we can find a small orchard planted with local fruits trees such as durian, rambutan, langsat and manggis.

Under one roof: The traditional

The traditional Malay house serves the housing needs of the majority of people living in rural areas of Malaysia. It was evolved by the Malays over the generations, and adapted to their own needs, culture, and environment. Basically a timber house with a post and lintel structure raised on stilts, with wooden, bamboo, or thatched roof, the house is designed to suit the tropical climate, Ventilation and solar-control devices and low thermal capacity building materials are part of the building heritage. House construction is highly systematised, like a modern prefabrication system, but with a much higher degree of flexibility and variation. The house components are made on the ground and later assembled on the building side. A very sophisticated addition system, which allows the house to grow with the needs of the user, is an advantage for the poor because it allows them to invest and build gradually, rather than shouldering one huge initial financial burden.

Tradtional Village, Kampong & Garden

There are numerous definitions of what is "traditional" and they apply to much more generally than just the built environment written Rapoport (2004). To simplify, a "traditional village" is taken to mean a small settlement, established at least for more than 50 years by people united by a common origin or economical activity, following a common customary rule  (Birbaum,2002). When used in this study, the term refers to that definition. It may be added that, in Terengganu, traditional settlements are often found established since more than three generations of Malay inhabitants who share the same religion and customs (Muhamad Saleh, 1992).

A "kampong" (or in Malay "kampung") is not synonym with "village" because in academic writings, the vernacular expression has anthropological connotations of "Malayness" which brings a perspective other than landscape observation. When used in this studies, it implies these connotations.

Type of house : Rumah Limas

Rumah Limas Traditional Palembang

One of house shapes in Palembang is Limas house. It is called Limas house because the roof shaped like pyramid (Limas). A house like this is also often called bari. Bari in Palembeng language means old or ancient. Limas house is basically divided into three parts: front,center, and back. At the front part, there are two ladders, one on each side left and right with an odd amount of stair steps for each ladder. The center part is a wide room. This room becomes the center place for gathering activities if there is a party. The living room (it is part of the center of the house) is a "display room" to show how prosper the house owner is.The wall is decorated with flora motiffied carvings painted in gold. Often, the house owner uses the real tin and gold to embellish the carvings and chandeliers. The back part of the house is used as kitchen.

Rumah Limas Johor

Rumah Limas, Johor Bahru. Johor State's eight districts are represented by uniquely-designed traditional wooden Malay houses named as Rumah Kluang, Rumah Mersing, Rumah Segamat, Rumah Johor Bahru, Rumah Pontian, Rumah Kota Tinggi, Rumah Muar and Rumah Batu Pahat. In additon, there are two other traditional wooden Malay houses - Rumah Utama and Rumah Spa.

Number of houses in Terengganu

There is research on the history of a number of houses in Terengganu 

- From unknown date to 1900: 'The rumah berpeles" with "tunjuk langit"

- From 1900 onward the limas bungkus 

-From around 1935 onward the atap Belanda with buah gutong 

- Later, after the second world war, came glass windows and the "A" frame roof structure (1948)

Finishing decorative elements mark the status of the owners and the period of the building. Foreign inspiration is present ( Chinese, Indian, European) yet integrated to the vernacular design. 

Another architectural feature is the house basic shape resulting from an adaption to the climate and natural environment. The practical design confers to the buildings their striking visual identity with high roofs, stills and the organic look due to the use of materials from the local forest.

Cultural Landscape Assessment Methods

Theoreticians (Taylor, 2002) have attracted attention to the present state of landscape "fragmentation" of the major part

of the earth surface global development. Any landscape impacted by man is cultural. Even those left part

may be considered as deliberately (cultural decision), put apart, thus cultural too. 

  

" Cultural landscapes can be thought of as any landscape bearing the impact of human activity , historic 

prehistoric. It is a concept emerging from increasing recognition that human beings are part of nature. " 

                                                                                                                                                                                       (Taylor, 2002)  

The word "landscape" even becomes synonym with "cultural" and "cultural landscape" becomes a pleonasm:  

From the point of view of landscape documentation proper , there may be a problem. If all landscapes are considered as cultural because one way

or another they are impacted by human presence, any landscape can be considered as significant in its own right. Then, landscapes that are historical

or specifically cultural significant may be by-passed in the plethora.