Pondok originates from an Arabic wordal-funduq which implies a hostel, a transitory home or dormitories meanwhile in Indonesia, a pondok is known as pesantren and dayah. The function of the pondok house is to serve as a center for the study of Islam in the Muslim community that does not have a specific age limit and is allowed to all genders. But most pondok houses are occupied by senior citizens who want to study Islam. The construction and existence of pondok house including facilities provided are mainly used for religious activity. Due to lack of law and regulations to govern the development of Pondok Village (PV), it drives a few problems that are related to insufficient facilities provided which then causes poor performance in managing it. This paper is presenting on the preliminary study from two pondok sites located in Perak, Malaysia. This paper is sought to discover the barriers related to implementing sustainable facilities management to PV. An interview with the building operators and an observation of the facilities provided in the PV was conducted. The findings reveal that lack of financial, lack of knowledge and skill related to sustainability, lack of staff to manage the building and facilities, lack of technology and inconsistent guidelines implemented are the key barriers that contribute to the performance of PV facilities management. Thus, this research recommends the implementation of sustainable facilities management of PV to reduce the cost of operating, proper training to the staffs that manage the facilities in a better way, thus increase skill and knowledge. Finally, the regulatory body should take holistic action in providing a standardization of facilities that should be provided in PV development and management.

Elderly Pondok Village (EPV) is viewed as a feasible accommodation that provides religious teaching and learning with residential facilities for ageing communities. Currently, Muslim retirees seem to prefer pondok system as one of the choices to spend their time after retirement. With the growing interest in this system, a comprehensive EPV model is crucial to meet the needs and such model will provide a dynamic environment for aging population. Many debates and issues of EPV have taken place in which issues such as lack of energy efficiency, safety, comfort, design for flexibility and social sustainability requirements were highlighted. To provide adequate, good quality accommodation, there is an urgent need for EPV to provide a living environment that fully addresses the sustainable requirements including social needs. Therefore, the aim of this review is to identify the important facilities to be included in the EPV and to check the conformity of the facilities to cultural sustainability and Islamic guidelines. This paper presents the review of findings on sustainable requirements based on synthesising sustainable pondok/retirement village model across the globe. The discussions highlighted some important considerations to include in the facilities provided for Muslim retirees. The results of the study indicated a few significant factors to consider which will foster cultural sustainability. Implementation of the suggested facilities will support the cultural sustainability according to the stipulated Islamic perspectives.