#malayness

(19) “What might be the cultural motivations behind such a house construction? From the above description fo the house, what tends to stand out as important are two areas - the verandah and the kitchen, which are connected by a narrow passage way. Geoffrey Benjamin’s historical analysis of the evolution of what he calls ‘Malay’ type societies has suggested that in such societies because of their early preoccupation with trade, the men tended to dominate the extra-domestic public sphere, whereas the domestic sphere became the special concern of the women. This is a different social orientation from the other societal types in the peninsular, namely the Semang who were hunter and gatherers and the Senoi who were sedentery farmers. Given that collecting for trade necessitated the men establishing relations with domains outside the village, domestic and village organisation normally tended towards a matrifiliative bias and the sister-sister links became the conjuctive components. In a personal discussion, he made the plaustible suggestion that such an ideological orientation towards division in spheres of activity could then have been manifested in their house construction - the physical separation between the verandah and the kitchen. The verandah then, as observed in Malay villages - is the place where the men usually sit around and interact in a relatively formal, etiquette-ruled manner, can be thought of as the ‘public’ domain of the house. The women on most occasion gather together in the kitchen - the ‘domestic’ domain of the house. There are usually two doors, as mentioned above one leading right into the verandah and the other just besides the kitchen door. This again seems to mark the separation of the public and ‘domestic’ domains of the house. The passage-way at the exterior of the house then (as the door leading to the kitchen) among other things of course provides for the women’s easy access to their domain, the kitchen. There is thus no interruption to whatever that is going on in the verandah. The other significant characteristic about most of the houses on Seking is that the doors are at the side of the house, thus facing the neigbouring house along its side. Having doors at the front of the house would mean on the other hand, facing the open ground of the island, or the various community structures, or just the hilll-side for the peoiple at Sebelah Sebong. This preference to face one’s neighbours is to my mind a reflection of something fundamental in Malay culture - that is the need to extend social relations to others.”