I believe partitioning began in landed houses near universities. A terrace house had 4 rooms. after partition, goodness, i think downstairs also 4 rooms already and upstairs maybe 5 rooms. I visited a friend who stayed in a partitioned house in Bandar Utama. It was bad. I think simple partition to add 1 or 2 rooms is ok but nowadays the partition is to the max. And safety hazards all ignored. MBPJ/DBKL has by laws to restrict this but as you all said, enforcement lacking.

During my student days, partitioning was unheard of. We all shared rooms. 2 beds to a room, master bedroom maybe 3 to 4 people. It was safer back then.

Now even a studio unit gets partitioned. A standard 1000 sq ft apartment gets partitioned. Crazy times. There is a limit to how low property prices can go as Developers have costs which are increasing by the day. New property won't get cheaper but old ones might.