When is a bungalow not a bungalow?

In Malaysia, a 'bungalow' is a large detached house, often with more than one storey. The operative word here is 'large'. Sure, we have mansions in Malaysia, but we hardly call them that - they are all huge bungalows. We of modest means often look at bungalow-dwellers with some envy, and bungalow-dwellers are understandably proud that they live in such grand houses.

An Englishman, however, would probably speak with more than some humility when he admits to living in a bungalow. That's because to an Englishman, a bungalow is not the abode of the rich. A bungalow is a low detached house having only one storey (Oxford Dictionary definiton). 

It's perhaps unfortunate that Malaysians associate bungalows with the rich. This opens up many opportunities for the word to be misused, mangled and corrupted. The property development fraternity is especially guilty of this: pamphlets abound that unabashedly advertise double-storey bungalows, 3-storey bungalows, semi-detached bungalows, linked bungalows, cluster bungalows, zero-lot bungalows - the list goes on. There are even 'sky bungalows' reported to be under development in Penang. I can only hazard a guess that these are 'bungalows' built on top of high-rise buildings.

So, when is a bungalow not a bungalow? Actually, we should rephrase it thus: When is [a house that is] not a bungalow a bungalow? When it is in Malaysia.

Note

Origin of the word: late 17th century, from Hindi baṅglā, meaning 'belonging to Bengal', referring to a type of cottage (in the style of a Bengal house) built for early European settlers in Bengal.