MALAY SETTLEMENT - CULTURAL IDENTITY OF MERANTAU

Mohamad Hanif Abdul Wahab

School of Housing, Building, Planning,
Universiti Sains Malaysia

School of Architecture, Planning and Surveying,

Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia
and
Azizi Bahauddin
School of Housing, Building, Planning,
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
Rembau terombo depicts the relationship between the indigenous people and the Minangkabau
immigrants in the establishment of new settlements in Rembau, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The notion
of migration as an exploration of agricultural land for the purpose of economics is not exact. Migration
should be seen as part of the region through a combination of cultural harmony onto the new
environment.
Migration established the Malay civilization in the spirit of Muafakat or consensus, rationalism and
intellectualism relationship between the indigenous people and the Minangkabau immigrants.
Unfortunately, cultural migration identities are intangible spirit and practiced in social relations. The
tangible migration cultural identified by Rasdi, Ali, Ariffin, Mohamad, & Mursid, (2005) as architectural
symbolism. In the Dongson maritime communities, the influence of boats and boats building symbolism
around the house can often be seen. The dwellings are built and arranged in manners that the land was
thought to be where they have originated as perpetual reminders of their maritime origin.
As the Negeri Sembilan traditional house roof type were a visual representation of kajang perahu
(Idrus, 1996), this paper aims to investigate the elements of "Merantau" or migration by the Malay
communities in Negeri Sembilan and the influence of their identity and culture onto the settlements.
The research methodology was qualitative. It involved historical literature reviews in unraveling the
elements and factors of the Malay migration. It is inclusive of experts interviews, site observation and
systematic visual data collection, and measured drawings to compliment the comprehensive surveys.
Merantau means moving sail along the shoreline like a river, a beach or going to another place to
make a living. Malay communities started their first migration about 10,000 to 11,000 years ago when
people in the Sundaland were separated as a result of rising sea levels during the Holocene period.
They migrated out of the mainland and formed the Malay realm from Madagascar up to the South
Pacific. Migration formed the Malay identity and influences on other communities characteristics
through interaction. They spread the Malay thoughts or diaspora, especially in architecture.
Findings indicated that the early Malay settlements in Negeri Sembilan had shown such migrations
had led to the opening of new settlements. There were elements used onto the new settlements such
as boat analogy, migration factors, geographical elements and the notion of sense of belonging.
Keywords: Merantau; Migration; Identity; Culture; Malay.