Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng - Penang Monthly

Reassessing Hobbies In The Age Of Social Media

4 min read

In this thought-provoking essay, Dato’ Dr. Ooi Kee Beng reflects on what hobbies reveal about modern life. Exploring ideas of identity, creativity, work and wellbeing, he argues that hobbies are more than pastimes—they are quiet acts of self-definition in an increasingly utilitarian world.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Migrants And The Mobility Of Their Economic Culture

3 min read

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN culture and economics is a fascinating one. Staying alive is much easier to do as a group…

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Speaking of CHT… on Penang Seizing the Moment and Breaking from Industrial Silos

8 min read

AS USUAL, THIS column highlights an exciting personality from Penang, no doubt because of what they have achieved, but more…

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

The Inclusive Ownership Of Penang And Its Paradoxes

3 min read

What makes a Penangite is not birthplace, but attachment. In this reflection on identity and belonging, Penang emerges as a place shaped by contradiction—provincial yet cosmopolitan, fragile yet resilient—held together by the people who care enough to claim it as their own.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Sustainability Is Good, But Not Enough; Let’s Aim For Satisfiability

3 min read

This article highlights the paradox of sustainable development: while necessary, unchecked global “development” risks ecological collapse. Ooi Kee Beng argues this calls for a deeper shift beyond sustainability towards “satisfiability,” focusing on sufficiency, ethics, and collective well-being.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Staying Sane By Acknowledging Our Rural Soul

3 min read

IN THE ENGLISH language, a “hamlet” or “colony” connotes a place of untainted being. Nature is close by, human warmth…

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Acquiring A Pro-Active Life Should Make Active Ageing A Walk In The Park

3 min read

We celebrate active ageing as aspiration and policy goal. But the term hints that growing old means becoming passive. In truth, to age actively is to reclaim initiative—to nurture the inner capacity to act, choose and give meaning.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

COSMOPOLISES: A Necessary Interpretation of The World of The Future

4 min read

COSMOPOLIS. That is an exciting word that is full of positive connotations. The original Greek expresses this idea by pairing…

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Expanding Comfort Zones and Third Places

3 min read

If urban living means that I possess a little space to call home, feel safe in and control, then how much I feel at home in a city would depend very much on how much home-like access I have when out in public.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Is AI the Next Stage in Human Enlightenment or a Return to Some Dark Age?

2 min read

With the invention and re-invention of printing—first in China, and then in the West—universal literacy, though not achieved even today, became a long-term possibility.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Biting the Bullet: Globalisation Slowdown as a Necessary Stage in Global Decolonisation

7 min read

Today the Greater Bay Area (GBA) is the world’s most dynamic economic district, and it has been recognised as the most innovative region in the world, ahead of the Greater Tokyo Area, and then US’ Silicon Valley.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Eating with Senses Mingling

3 min read

When it comes to food and our ability to accept and enjoy it or to reject and discard it, humans actually rely on both Tongue and Nose to decide.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng