Dr. Kuah Li Feng

is an ethnographer and cultural practitioner. She founded Studio Good Think in 2011, one of the first private heritage service consultancies in Penang focusing on cultural research and interpretation.

5 posts

Anecdotal Accounts of Chinese Women Migrants to Southeast Asia

5 min read

In Penang Monthly’s Campbell Street-themed issue, we explored how the street gained infamy as a prostitution hub (see August 2021, A Red-light District Worthy o...

by Dr. Kuah Li Feng

Prostitutes in Penang: A Life Often Filled with Fear and Violence

6 min read

The “princess”, was a human-trafficked victim sold to brothel houses at a tender age. These girls suffered deplorable conditions; in exchange for basic food and accommodation, they were forced into prostitution and were treated as personal belongings and slaves by the brothel-keepers.

by Dr. Kuah Li Feng

Snapshots of Chinese Women in Penang Educated in the Post-WWII Period

7 min read

THE FIGURE ABOVE is an article that appeared in Nanyang Siang Pau on 23 October 1930, advocating for women’s liberation in Penang. The title reads:Women! Becaus...

by Dr. Kuah Li Feng

The Rise of "Exotic Flowers": A Brief History of Formal Education for Chinese Women in Penang

5 min read

THE PREVIOUS FEW articles on Chinese prostitutes in Penang Monthly cast light on the plight of early Chinese female migrants to Malaya and Singapore. These wome...

by Dr. Kuah Li Feng

A Red-light District Worthy of a Vibrant Port

4 min read

Campbell Street was also known by its motley of vernacular names. The Chinese called it 新街, i.e. sin kay in Hokkien or san kai in Cantonese, meaning “new street”, in relation to the older thoroughfare, Chulia Street, that runs parallel to it.

by Dr. Kuah Li Feng