March 1, 2010

Old traditional Malay house on stilts, Johor, Malaysia

Location: Kampung Sebong, Johor, Malaysia (1°21'24.92"N 104° 7'47.36"E)
Date: 18 April 2008 10.40am
Camera: Canon 400D with Sigma 17-70/f2.8-4.5

There are still many rural areas in Malaysia, replete with old Malay traditions and architecture. An example is this traditional Malay house that sits on stilts. This is still a common sight in many “kampungs” or villages, easily noticed when one drives around the country-side . The houses sit on stilts to allow better ventilation as well as to avoid floods and having crawlies (read snakes) into the houses. Believe it or not, these houses are still abundant in downtown central Kuala Lumpur, in the area known as "Kampung Baru.” This is a huge swath of land in central KL that is still undeveloped as it is “Malay Reserve Land” with many restrictions on titles including prohibition on its ownership by non-Malays (or non-Bumiputras). This may change soon as the government is mulling changes in the law to enable this expensive landmass to be developed easier.

2 comments:

fufu said...

yeah i still see many of these houses around kl especially around its periphery =p

FUJIFILM Digital Camera India said...

Nice post... just love such houses..