Space Function for Social Interaction : internal

. Internal Spaces - The House

The traditional Terengganu Malay house has a very simple basic layout. It consists of three main areas:
· `Serambi', also known as `Selasar', the reception area.
· `Rumah Ibu', the main part of the house used mainly for family living and sleeping.
· `Dapor', the kitchen area, also used for dining.

The three main areas are formed by slight floor level changes and positioning of doorways to separate the different areas. The `Rumah Ibu' has the highest floor level while the `Selasar' and `Dapor' floor levels are dropped slightly on both sides of the 'Rumah Ibu'. This is symbolic of the importance of the 'Rumah Ibu' which is considered sacred and contains the main family sleeping, living and praying area. This innermost part of the house is also the most sacred territory used normally by family members. It is the heart of the house.

a) 'Serambi' (Selasar) — Reception

This area is located on the front side of the house facing the public street or 'square'. Sometimes this 'Serambi' area consists of only a roofed raised platform area without any walls. This raised platform area normally runs along the whole or part of a side or end of the 'Rumah Ibu'. Its floor is always lower than that of the 'Rumah Ibu'. This place for reception of guests may be of various kinds, each being given a different Malty name. The long verandah called the 'Scrambi' or 'Selasar' and the 'Anjong' are the two main ones. These two types are the only real reception rooms. The others, like the 'Jemoran' and the 'Rumah Tangga' are subsidiary places and were not originally meant for receiving guests. Male visitors are normally received in this 'Serambi' area but females arc often entertained in the 'Dapor' area where they tend to congregate. If the visitors are family relatives or very close family friends, they arc some-times entertained by the lady of the house in the 'Rumah lbu' area while the men remain in the front 'Serambi'. Normally the ordinary visitors see only the 'Serambi'. All the social and religious functions of kampung life take place in the 'Serambi'. This includes feasts, gatherings, meals and prayers in which non-family members take part. In houses which do not have the 'Scrambi' area, the 'Rumah Ibu' is used or sometimes temporary shelters are built on the ground. This 'Scrambi' area is where the wedding, circumcision, funeral and prayer ceremonies are performed. 'Tikar', a type of straw mat, are spread on the floor for the guests to sit on and food is served during these functions and gatherings. No other bulky furniture is needed. As mentioned earlier, sometimes the 'Serambi' area is not walled, like the 'Rumah Tangga' version. This provides a popular relaxing area for men in the evening when the tropical air has cooled down. This area thus plays another important social role. It provides an interaction area between the household members lounging here.and the public passers by who stop for a chat or exchange greetings and news. The 'Serambi' is also used as a sleeping area for younger unmarried men of the house and other male house guests. In the daytime it is used for giving the children religious instructions and 'Koran' reading lessons. The 'Serambi' is also used for mending and repairing fishing nets and other implements during the 'unproductive' rainy north-east monsoon period from November to February. During this period heavy rain falls for days without break. The 'Scrambi' is thus temporarily turned into a workshop area. Even during the normal season visitors can sometimes finc1 Iish nets and fish traps hung on the wall of' this area. When a larger space is required for more extensive repair work the sheltered area underneath the house is used. This area under the house is described further later.


b) 'Rumah Ibu' — The Main House

The 'Rumah Ibu' usually has the highest floor level. It holds the main family sleeping area. The father and mother together with the babies and the younger children sleep in one part of the house. The elder unmarried daughters, the married daughters and the husbands each have parts of the room to themselves, which are screened off by cloth hung across the room. Unmarried female guests sleep with the young unmarried daughters of the hosts. One of the most noticeable features of the Malay house is the absence of solid full height walls or partitions separating or isolating the different areas. Any partitions provide only limited `privacy'. This is where. it differs greatly from the house concept of its Western counterparts. It is essential to understand the Malay concept of family life in order to appreciate their way of living in their homes. The physical form of the building in its relationship to family life is usually assumed to be in essence receptive-reflective rather than causative-formative. It is commonly accepted that the house is but a mirrored image of the family therein. Since the light timber or bamboo panels of the walls do not effectively keep out sound, the Malay from early childhood is accustomed to all kinds of noise from the outside: cocks crowing, ducks clucking-etc. . . Lack or absence of full height internal walls separating the various areas further conditions them to noises and sound from within the house. Any conversa­tion, music playing and crying of babies have all members of the household either as active or passive participants. As a result, all activities within the house are conducted with a degree of mutual regard and respect among the family members that would be unusual in the individualistic Western society. No vices or virtues can he hidden for there is absolutely nowhere to hide them. `Huts everything about each member of the family, even private affairs are known to all the other family members and decisions are seldom left to the individual alone. It seems almost as if the individual, accustomed to the exposure of his or her private life from infancy, has consequently never felt the need for privacy. It is therefore not surprising that no word exists for privacy in the Malay language. Normally there are no private bedroom areas in the traditional Malay house but a `communal' sleeping area is formed by spreading mats or mattresses on the floor at night. The different areas within the 'Rumah Ibu' are not permanently separated but are formed by having cloth hung across the room. In the 'Rumah Ibu' an attic space is sometimes found in the roof space under the high pointed gables, called 'Tebar Layar'. The screens slope upwards and inwards forming a shallow platform which extends across the base of the gable. This platform, called 'Undan-undan', is usually used for storage of brass or other valuable household utensils. Sometimes even cakes which are cooked for feasts or for sale are stored here. The same usage is found in Bali where family valuables are stored on these types of bamboo racks. Although not normal in Trengganu, sometimes this attic space is used as a secure sleeping place for young unmarried girls. As mentioned earlier the 'Rumah Ibu' is the most private and sacred part of the house: the innermost area. It is a restricted area mainly for family members only.

c) 'Dapor' — The Kitchen

The 'Dapor' is normally located on the opposite side of the 'Serambi' area of the house. The `Dapor' area is the place where the female members of the household tend to congregate and spend most of their time cooking. It is easily approached by female visitors by using the back entry. Every Malay house has at least two entrances, one into the front `Serambi' and the other into the `Dapor' area at the back. It is normal practice for a female visitor to proceed straight to the `Dapor' back entrance to seek her female counterparts without first going up to the `Serambi' area, while her husband is being received and entertained at the front reception area. It is the normal practice for male and female members to conduct their social activity separately. Sometimes if the woman is a very close family friend or a relative, she is entertained in the `Rumah Ibu' area. The 'Dapor' is mainly the cooking area. Sometimes part of it is set aside to be used as a 'dining' area. It is quite normal in a large Malay family for family members to have their meals separately at different times. Food can be eaten in the 'Rumah Ibu' area too and guests are normally invited to dine in the 'Serambi' area. The cooking area consists of a simple arrangement of a wood-fire surrounded by a partially enclosed circle of large rocks on which the 'kuali' (a 'wok') rests over the open fire. Sometimes a crude wooden box forms a sort of frame for the 'kuali' to rest on. Cooking utensils are normally stored away by hanging them on the kitchen walls. It is normal to have a small hole opening in the floor in the kitchen through which left-overs or waste food are thrown out below to the waiting hens and ducks who feed on them. Since the 'Dapor' is facing the back of the house compound, it normal­ly fronts onto the washing or bathing area where a well or river is found. It is not uncommon to find this well on the side or even in the front compound of the house. If no river runs nearby clothes are washed at the wells. The well (or river) is also the source of drinking and cooking water. It could be a personal private bathing area or a shared one. The bathers wear a piece of 'sarong' (cloth) around their body and bathe by pouring water from a 'timba' (a hand water bucket). The ablutions before prayers are also done at the well.