Rumah Minangkabau in Negeri Sembilan

Before I talk about Rumah Minangkabau in Negeri Sembilan, let me explain about the material used in Malaysia vernacular architecture. Typical Malay houses uses the most natural material that can be found in the surroundings which is wood. The whole house basically is made out of "timber with a post and lintel structure raised on stilts, with wooden, bamboo or thatched walls and a thatched roof" (Lim, n.d.). So the Malay house is naturally cooling. People that live there will feel comfortable and mechanical cooling will not be needed. The usage of natural materials that are good heat reflector keep the house well ventilated. Typical Malay house has a lot of windows which helps in cross ventilation, keeping the temperature cool and thus helps in maintaining the health of the people occupying the house.

Now, moving on to Rumah Minangkabau in Negeri Sembilan. The influence of the Minangkabau culture is from the Minangkabau people in Indonesia. In Negeri Sembilan, most of the Malays originated from Minangkabau (National Archives of Malaysia, 2015) Thus, the influence of Minangkabau culture is very strong. Rumah Minangkabau also known as "rumah gadang are the traditional matriarchal homes of the Minangkabau people"(Bahauddin et al, 2012). The rumah gadang serves as a "residence and also hall for family meetings and ceremonial activities" (Bahauddin et al, 2012). The uniqueness of Minangkabau houses is the shape of the roof which clearly differs it from other Malay houses. The Minangkabau house "has a long curved-shaped roof with both ends of the roof pointing slightly upwards" (National Archives of Malaysia, 2015). The roof looks like buffalo horn that people often associates it with the stories Tambo Minangkabau Alam that is actually about the victory of Minangkabau people fighting against Javanese buffalo (Nusantara Cultures, 2011). In my opinion, the reason they use the shape of buffalo horn is to remember their victory against the buffaloes.

And now, some pictures of Rumah Minangkabau.

Minangkabau House in Rembau, Negeri Sembilan
(Source:http://www.clockworld.info/MY/photos/1771522/kampung-ayer-hitam/  )

Minangkabau House Traditional in Jakarta, Indonesia

(Source:http://www.topix.com/album/detail/id/jakarta/JNE9BI0QNL2AKQBH )

From the pictures shown above, you can see slight difference between the Minangkabau House in Negeri Sembilan and Indonesia. The roof of the Minangkabau House in Indonesia curved upwards more and looked more pointy. Plus, the one in Indonesia has more layers of the roof than the one in Negeri Sembilan. 

Rumah gadang like any other Malay houses has serambi, rumah ibu, anjung, rumah dapur and tengah. In my opinion, the reasons they separate the spaces accordingly is to ensure activities can be carry out conveniently. They separated the front portion and back portion to separate the spaces for male and female is quite unfair. But it is the olden days, so I think it is fine. Rumah Minangkabau is very unique as it have Indonesia culture in it together with local culture.

References:

Bahauddin, A., Hardono, S., Abdullah, A. and Maliki, N.Z. (2012) 'The Minangkabau House: Architectural and Cultural Elements'. Eco-Architecture IV: Harmonisation between Architecture and Nature. Southhampton, UK. WIT Press.

Lim, J.Y. (n.d.) 'Under One Roof: The Traditional Malay House'. A World in Cities. [Online]

Available at: http://www.sabrizain.org/malaya/library/malayhouse.pdf [Accessed 2 June, 2016]

National Archives of Malaysia (2015) Available at: 

http://www.arkib.gov.my/en/web/guest/rumah-melayu-negeri-sembilan [Accessed 2 June, 2016]

Nusantara Cultures (2011) "Rumah Gadang (Gadang House)". Available at: 

http://nusantara-cultures.blogspot.my/2011/06/rumah-gadang-gadang-house.html 

[Accessed 2 June, 2016]

Image Sources:

Minangkabau House in Rembau, Negeri Sembilan (2008) [Image] Available at:

http://www.clockworld.info/MY/photos/1771522/kampung-ayer-hitam/ [Accessed 2 June, 2016]

Minangkabau House Traditional in Jakarta, Indonesia (2009) [Image] Available at: 

http://www.topix.com/album/detail/id/jakarta/JNE9BI0QNL2AKQBH [Accessed 2 June, 2016]