*The following article was written by Blog Reporters of ASEAN-Korea Centre.

Did you know that before modern housing design has been introduced, Malaysia had a unique architectural heritage of traditional house design? This traditional house is particularly constructed by the Malay ethnic in Malaysia. Malay house is also known as ‘rumah kampung’, as once upon the time, it could be easily found in the Malay village or countryside area. Currently, some Malay people are still living in this kind of house with their family and others aren’t any more as they migrated to the city area or another settlement places. Some abandoned Malay house buildings also have been undergoing preservation by the government in order to protect the local heritage of Malaysian architecture.

The traditional Malay house architecture is influenced by the environment, local culture and knowledge, and lifestyles. In general, the traditional Malay house’s design and style has a same philosophy which is to be fit for tropical humid weather​. Thus, they have similar layout of main house, rooms and a kitchen, and also common characteristics in floor, roof, and wall structures. Most of the floor structure of traditional Malay house has been raised for the ventilation of natural air flow underneath the house and for avoiding the flooding during heavy rainfall. A strong stilt or piles structure is very important in order to support the building. As the floor has been lifted, few staircases are built to lead up the main house. Some staircases are also connected to the corridor or balcony (anjung) part.