Foreign students learning the hard way
6 min read
“I would have never thought that the police could detain me for such a thing,” says Dinesh, a 30-year-old international student who came to Malaysia...
Malaysian skinheads against racism
6 min read
On May 18, 2013, a picture of 14 Malay teenagers in skinhead clothes with their right arms raised in the Nazi salute appeared in American magazine Vice. Now, wh...
Resisting the closing of the Malaysian mind
6 min read
It’s hard not to be impressed by Prof Latif Kamaluddin, author of poetry collections such as Lazy Lamas and Voodoo Genitalia, upon meeting him for the fir...
Penang’s frontline survivor
6 min read
One can glean that Kim Gooi has lived an amazing life just by looking at him: donning a slanting beret, his whole persona exudes the sense that he’s flirt...
The punk artists of Mount Kinabalu
6 min read
About 100km away from Kota Kinabalu, I find myself standing inside a sunscorched country house, looking at a line of A3-sized posters hanging on the walls.About...
Bukit Mertajam offers some rare authenticity
6 min read
If you ask any of George Town’s foreign tourists what they think of Bukit Mertajam, at best you’d get a vacuous stare. “Bukit what? Is that a...
Stories from some young Malay minds
4 min read
They say don’t judge a book by its cover, and in the case of Young and Malay: Growing up in Multicultural Malaysia, I couldn’t agree more. The spunk...
Making words perform art
5 min read
On November 27-29, the George Town Literary Festival will once again be back in town to colour Penang with the monochromatic black-and-white grandeur of the pri...
Fusing Modern Skills with Traditional Crafts
5 min read
The second edition of art festival Urban Xchange gave six contemporary artists, mostly Malaysian, the chance to challenge Penangites’ biggest pet peeve: m...
A Dreamy Tribute in 35mm
5 min read
With an eagle etched over his throat, 30-year-old Samuel Carter looks more like a tattoo-parlour apprentice than a self-made vintage photographer. “Photog...
Keeping the Spirit of Bruno Manser Alive
5 min read
Ruedi Suter.In 2004, Swiss indigenous-rights activist Bruno Manser hiked to his favourite peak, Batu Lawi. Despite having completed the climb several time...
Pondering Malaysia’s Complex Society
5 min read
Upon meeting Julian Lee for the first time, one may take his silent, observant nature as a sign of shyness. But shy Lee is not; an accomplished academic and wri...