Alexander Fernandez - Penang Monthly

Tan Shih Thoe Talks About the Business of Art at Hin Bus Depot

7 min read

HIN BUS DEPOT celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, and so, Penang Monthly thinks it a great occasion to sit down with Tan Shih Thoe, the brain (and the br...

by Alexander Fernandez

Getting Around in Penang: Managing the Transition to Better Public Transport

11 min read

A WELL-STRUCTURED bus system offers a wide range of benefits that go beyond mere transportation. It addresses the critical issue of affordability by providing a...

by Alexander Fernandez

The Kristang of Melaka: How Long Will They Continue to Survive?

5 min read

WHEN I ARRIVED at the Portuguese Settlement, also known as St. John’s village, in Ujong Pasir, Melaka on a weekday morning, the streets were dead quiet and ther...

by Alexander Fernandez

A Sense of Wet Markets in Penang, Now

3 min read

Penang Monthly visited a number of wet markets around Penang and found that these, echoing what Tan Ban Ben, the president of the Penang Island Wholesalers Association, said, have been homogenised and standardised.

by Alexander Fernandez & Sheryl Teoh

A Jungle in a Bottle, Anyone?

6 min read

Ever seen mosses and ferns inside a laboratory flask, and done a double take? What you would have been observing was a self-sustaining enclosed ecosystem &ndash...

by Alexander Fernandez

Penang’s Eurasians – Too Important to Be Ignored

6 min read

Known to locals as “Serani” – a contraction of the Malay word “nasrani”, meaning Christi...

by Alexander Fernandez

Heralds of Dawn in the Heart of the City

4 min read

TEN MINUTES BEFORE the break of dawn, Mr. Radhi arrives at the doorstep of Masjid Melayu Lebuh Acheh to prep for the day. It is a Friday, so he is garbed in a s...

by Alexander Fernandez & Lokman Redzuan

ESCAPE – Making Tourism Sustainable by Maintaining High Standards

4 min read

TUCKED DEEP IN Teluk Bahang is the kampung-concept theme park ESCAPE, the brainchild of chief ESCAPE officer Sim Choo Kheng. Inspired by his childhood adventure...

by Alexander Fernandez

Malaysians Move from Game-playing to Game-making

6 min read

GONE ARE THE days of the parent-child barter trade: “Score Straight As in your exams, and you’ll get that Gameboy Yellow you wanted.” Today, t...

by Alexander Fernandez

Suffering the MCO in the Services Sector

5 min read

PENANG’S SERVICES SECTOR is a shadow of its former self. On top of an already flailing entertainment industry and a row of F&B outlets biting the dust...

by Alexander Fernandez & Nursyazana Khidir Neoh

Nursyazana Khidir Neoh

eSports in Malaysia: What Awaits Competitive Gaming?

5 min read

WHEN LAN GAMING cybercafes first emerged in the early 2000s, they were all the rage. They provided a social and competitive environment for gamers to gather and...

by Alexander Fernandez

Back to School: Making Learning a Lifelong Endeavour

4 min read

MY MOTHER WAS telling me all about the Saturday baking class that she has started attending – the new recipe that she has added into her repertoire, the occasio...

by Alexander Fernandez