Progress on Zainal's dream house was slow, but steady. - Photos: Zainal Abidin Musa
He pauses halfway up the winding brick steps, his gaze locked on the wooden house below, its clay roof tiles and timber beams bathed in the late afternoon light. A quiet satisfaction softens his face.
With a sigh – part relief, part disbelief – 65-year-old Zainal Abidin Musa murmurs, “I never thought it would actually come true.”
The house – a blend of solid brick and concrete at its base, with chengal wood, reclaimed timber, and bamboo above – is the dream Zainal has carried since boyhood.
“I’ve always had this dream of building my own house, ever since I was a boy. But, to be honest, I never thought it would ever happen,” he says.
Today, that little boy would be proud. Despite having “zero experience in housebuilding, but plenty of curiosity”, Zainal embarked on his dream project – designing and constructing the house with his own hands, from scratch – some years ago.
“(I did it) with help from my kampung friends, volunteers and even my two young children, who were then aged five and eight,” says the father of eight children, aged between 15 and 36.
Finding peace
Tucked deep into the hillside of Janda Baik, Pahang, Zainal’s dream house now stands on what was once a wild, overgrown patch of land, thick with bamboo and fruit trees. Just 45 minutes from the bustle of Kuala Lumpur, this quiet retreat has become his sanctuary – a place to breathe, think, and simply be.
But the dream wasn’t built overnight. Before he embarked on his dream project, Zainal was juggling life as both an artist and an art lecturer at a private university. Even as he moved between classrooms and canvases, he found himself increasingly drawn to the rhythms of kampung life. The sounds of a rushing river, the scent of wet earth were vivid reminders of his childhood in Perak that he missed. In the cool mountain air and hush of the forests that he used to visit, he rediscovered a sense of belonging that the city could never quite offer.
Then in 2015, a friend offered to sell him a piece of wild, sloping land. That offer changed everything for him.
“At first, we had no real plan – just dreams. We’d sit and imagine what the space could be: A house for us, a studio for my painting, a space for my wife to write, a treehouse for the little ones, and maybe a small kebun sayur (vegetable garden),” Zainal says.
Those weren’t grand plans, he adds, just simple, hopeful thoughts.
“But it gave us energy and kept us going,” he continues.
Zainal hard at work clearing the bushes and the bamboo grooves at the very start of his project.
Charting the course
For the first few years after he acquired the land, nothing much happened. The space remained untouched, save for the occasional family picnic or overnight camping trip.
But slowly, the dream started to grow roots. Zainal began by clearing the land, cutting through the bamboo and bush, and building himself a small shelter made from bamboo.
That served as a place to rest during the day as he cleared the land more to get a better sense of the contours of the land that had become his. He began to identify suitable spots for the house he wanted to build.
“In those early days, I’d walk around the space in the morning, machete in hand, work till late, and walk back down before nightfall,” he recalls.
Having cleared an access path to the site from the main road, the bamboo shelter turned into his “base camp”: It slowly grew in size and had additional amenities such as a composting toilet and a designated area to pitch tents. He’d collect rainwater for use and rely on candles for light.
“It was basic, but it felt right,” Zainal remembers.
Zainal’s family got the taste of the raw beauty of the jungle when they would visit him in the early stages of the build.
His family joined him whenever they could, cooking over firewood and sleeping in tents, experiencing the raw beauty of the jungle for the first time.
Bit by bit, his project began to take shape. Eventually, with the arrival of electricity, pumped water, he had a sturdy bamboo house complete with a functional kitchen and the once-raw wilderness transformed into a comfortable living quarters.
“It became more like a home,” he adds.
Yet, the dream house was still far from reality.
“I didn’t come from a construction background, but what I had was a love for traditional architecture, and a strong belief that I could learn,” Zainal says.
The former advertising agency owner gathered input from his architect friends and spent hours pouring over books, especially those about kampung houses.
He even travelled to the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia just to observe how those beautiful old timber homes were built, among them Istana Lemuni in Janda Baik, Pahang, Terrapuri in Setiu, Terengganu, and Akademi Nik Rashiddin in Bachok, Kelantan.
“With input from friends and seasoned builders, I started sketching ideas,” he recalls.
He says the house design grew out of a mix of practical needs and inspiration from traditional Malay houses.
“The ground floor is concrete for strength and durability; the upper floor is wood for warmth and charm,” he explains. “A bit modern, a bit kampung.”
Despite having no experience in housebuiling, Zainal persevered.
Building the dream
Zainal was involved in every part of the building process: From buying timber and hardware to mixing the concrete for the foundation of his house.
“I didn’t hire a team of workers. It was just me, my hands, and help from kampung friends who had experience with housebuilding,” he says.
Together, they worked steadily, tackling each step – from building the structure to completing the roof and all the carpentry.
Then came the Covid-19 pandemic. When the lockdown hit, Zainal decided to pack up and move his family (his wife, their two youngest kids, and helper) from Seri Kembangan in Selangor to Janda Baik.
“Strangely, that became one of the most memorable chapters of the whole building journey,” he shares. “With everyone around, housebuilding became a family affair.”
His children would help clean moss off the old clay tiles and scrub mud off bricks, while his wife helped him mix concrete by hand, and join him in hauling material.
Even the little ones played a part in the build.
“It wasn’t easy but it was satisfying. Every bit of effort went into the bones of the house,” he says. “There’s something very special about knowing your children literally helped build the house they now live in.”
Looking back, Zainal says the whole project started with “just a silly dream” he and his wife had of a different life that was away from the city.
“I think dreams have a funny way of turning into reality when you start putting your heart (and hands) into them,” he adds.
Today, though the house is not completely finished, he prefers to spend 95% of his time in Janda Baik, and will only brave the traffic to his Seri Kembangan home when necessary.
“Like when an art collector wants to view my paintings at my home studio,” he adds.
Zainal standing proud in front of his house, which he built with his own two hands.
Living with passion
The dream house, however, is only one part of Zainal’s story. He continues to paint and sculpt, while building his a unique “art-and-dining” experience on his land.
“Even while I was knee-deep in housebuilding, I tried not to lose touch with my art. I still got invited to take part in group exhibitions,” says the established artist who has had a handful of solo exhibitions under his belt.
His last solo exhibition, titled Tengkujuh, was held at Artelier Gallery KL in 2014.
“Painting serene landscapes is therapeutic for me,” Zainal says, explaining that he chooses whichever medium – acrylics, oils, watercolors, charcoal, or pastels – best captures his mood.
Zainal is drawn to creating with his hands, whether through painting or doing other crafts like printmaking, carving, and even basic carpentry.
“Ever since I began this housebuilding project, my view of sculpture has shifted, as now I see the house itself as a kind of functional sculpture, something that serves a purpose but also expresses who I am,” he adds.
He regards the house as the biggest piece of art he has ever worked on. Zainal shares photos of the progress he has made on his dream house on his social media platforms as an informal visual record of his work.
“Friends tell me it inspires them to see someone my age still going up on ladders, sawing wood, pouring cement,” he says. “And honestly, their encouragement, likes and comments keep me going.”
The ground floor of the house has been turned into a studio, showcasing some of Zainal’s paintings.
It also encouraged him and his wife to organise intimate art-and-dining experiences, for a small fee, for those curious to see the house for themselves and listen to Zainal’s inspiring stories while enjoying his wife’s sumptuous home-cooked meals.
“We eat, we talk, and naturally the conversation drifts to the design of the house, life in the kampung, and the creative work that goes on here,” he adds.
Zainal believes that these gatherings have sparked something not only in his visitors but the kampung folk too, some of whom have started their own carpentry projects in their backyards!
For Zainal, the journey has given him more than just a physical structure to live in.
“It’s given me clarity on what really matters in life. It reminds me to be thankful for the rezeki we’ve been granted, not just in the form of money or material things, but in the importance of family ties, community, and the connection we have with the Almighty,” concludes the grandfather of four.
