Federalism going down the toilet
3 min read
Something that Malaysians have had to realise in recent months is that political power in the country has over the years become so centralised that local govern...
The man who industrialised Penang
6 min read
Any penangite born less than 40 years ago will not have known a Penang that was not a hub for the world’s electronics industry. Before the 1970s, the stat...
Colonial Penang's pre-modern roots
3 min read
Penang under the East India Company 1786-1858Andrew BarberAB&A. 2009; Hard cover;160 pagesReview by Ooi Kee BengThe salience of the approach Barber ch...
On vibrant port cities and anomalous nation states
6 min read
Ho Eng Seng returned to Penang in 1986 from Stanford University with degrees in Anthropology and Economics. The timing was bad, however. The country was in th...
The Regional Span Of Sun Yat Sen’s Republicanism
3 min read
Sun Yat Sen in Penang by Khoo Salma Nasution chronicles Sun’s revolutionary efforts, his ties to Penang, and the city’s role in shaping modern China, all through captivating narratives and rich visuals.
The day George Town grew up
4 min read
IT IS THE MORNING OF the New Year. The face of the Victoria Memorial Clock Tower blocking the rising sun to the east shows the time to be 8.50.Here, on the Es...
The enchanting hill of early Penang
4 min read
Nahuijs was the first Dutch Resident for Suracarta and Yogjakarta, holding that office from 1816 until 1822 when he retired from office. While making his way...
Straits Muslims: Diasporas of the Northern Passage of the Straits of Malacca
4 min read
MARITIME SOUTH-EAST ASIA WAS – and is – a region filled with port cities. Such urban centres tend to concentrate both power and money. But more th...
Penang On The Brink of War,1821
4 min read
The Rajah of Ligor sent a hundred war perahus into Penang harbour, and with enemies at the gate, the first ever volunteer corps in Penang was formed by its inha...
Kedah Hoped For The Return of Province Wellesley in 1957
1 min read
How the independent Federation of Malaysia would incorporate its various parts was not a given thing, and the issues up for negotiation in 1956–1957 wer...
Malay Journalism Before The War
5 min read
Zainal-Abidin B. Ahmad (1895–1973) a.k.a Za’ba was a writer and teacher. A native of Negeri Sembilan, he was the first Malay to pass the Senior Camb...
A Pressman’s Progress
5 min read
THE STRAITS ECHO WAS Tan Thean Peng’s first employer. He joined as a reporter in 1978 after finishing his A-levels at St Xavier’s Institution only t...