Finding Penang’s niche
2 min read
From left to right:Professor Dr p. Ramasamy, Penang Deputy Chief Minister ii; Lim Guan Eng, Penang Chief Minister; Liew Chin Tong, seri executive director and...
The man who industrialised Penang
6 min read
A politician may point the way, but without competent and dedicated civil servants to do the work, not much gets done. Luckily, Dr Lim Chong Eu had Chet Singh on his side.
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
Ooi Kee Beng sat down with Professor Ho Eng Seng, a Penang Free School alumnus, who shared with him some of the most important lessons he had learned on his long academic journeys.
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.
Life on the List
14 min read
ENOUGH TIME has now passed for PEM to start asking what the most significant and noticeable changes are, and what people have learned from the fact that George Town is now under global scrutiny, what measures are crying out to be taken, and what the future holds for this newly recognised treasure.
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 home to Europe, he wrote diligently about the places he visited along the 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...