Coastal and riverine settlements
Stilts are erected by sinking nibong trunks into the river bed. Timber boards are then lashed to them with strips of rattan.
The earliest settlements in Malaysia developed along river basins because rivers were the only means of transportation into the interior of the country and because their estuaries provided a safe haven for seafarers and fishermen. Major towns such as Melaka, Kota Bharu, Kuala Terengganu, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching all began as river settlements. But with advances in modern transport systems, the importance of coastal and riverine settlements receded and today waterfront settlements are mostly fishing villages. In Sabah and Sarawak, numerous coastal villages, known as kampung air (water villages), can be seen spreading out along the coastlines of both states.
- Information in the full article includes
- Living above water
- People of the sea