The traditional Malay house is a timber house raised on stilts. It is basically
a post-and-lintel structure with wooden or bamboo walls and a thatched
roof. Windows are plentiful, lining the walls and providing good ventilation
and views for the house. This quality of openness is also reflected by the large
open interior spaces with minimal partitions.
The bumbung lima house has a hipped roof, the bumbung perak house
has a gambrel roof and the bumbung lirnas house has a pyramidal roof. Of
these three foreign houseforms used in Malay houses, the bumbung perak
houseform (also called bumbung potongan Belanda [Dutch-type] roof in the
East Coast) is the most popular.