What brain, what drain?
2 min read
In the days before nation states, polities in South-East Asia were largely trading ports. These dots constituted the maritime routes along which fortune-seekers...
Penang economic monthly
1 min read
The Penang Economic Monthly, a think tank magazine that has been around for 11 years, has been overhauled and commercialised. This endeavour is in response to t...
Rehabilitating social values
2 min read
IT IS SURPRISING how many conferences are actually held in Penang nowadays. We do discuss a lot of things a lot on this island. Don't believe anyone who says ot...
Taking Penang Studies seriously
2 min read
Like most new countries founded after colonialism’s fall, Malaysia lacks good historical studies about itself that are based on solid empirical data. No d...
Penang – Cultural Capital
2 min read
The Unesco’s decision to put Penang jointly with Malacca on its World Heritage List two years ago signifi ed a few fascinating things.For one thing, it...
Federating Malaysia-a continuous and troubled process
3 min read
Penang Monthly’s cover story this month is about East Malaysia and how it has always been an unknown territory to Malaysians on the peninsula. To start wi...
Penang’s Waterfronts May be Its Future Identity
3 min read
Penang’s free port status began eroding after the final boundaries of Malaysia were defined with the exit of Singapore in 1965. By 1974, the federal gover...
Cities are Many Different Creatures
2 min read
Thinking about the liveability of cities makes me wonder in what ways cities are similar enough to each other for us to compare them to each other, not to menti...
Penang is blessed - If you want it
3 min read
No one can doubt that Penang is going through a very dynamic period today. It is evident in how the cityscape and the street life are changing, and in how vibra...
Humility Comes from Realising that All Understanding is Biased
3 min read
“The Present” is a strange concept. For one thing, it is really not possible to think of “The Present” without relying on images of &ldq...
When Brick Bridges were First Built to Ayer Itam…
3 min read
It seems very little is written about the history of a key location like Ayer Itam (I take the liberty of using the old spelling here). And since Penang Monthly...
The Enemy that is Ourselves
4 min read
Compilations of articles have in the past decade been a popular format through which political analyses and discussions about Malaysia are publicised. T...