Ong Siou Woon

20 years (and counting) in Penang, and more than a decade with Penang Institute—she is a YSEALI alumnus trained in urban planning. She finds learning about nature and food a never-ending journey.

9 posts

Two-Wheeled Electric Vehicles: The Best Option For Penang

7 min read

Compared to cities like KL, proximity within Penang and its narrow streets result in a high number of two-wheelers. If done well, 2WEVs could be used for last-mile connectivity, bridging the gap between public transport and final destinations.

by Ong Siou Woon & Hajar Ariff

How Much Energy Are We Consuming?

1 min read

The National Energy Policy aims to establish a sustainable, secure and affordable energy future by outlining progressive goals across multiple phrases.

by Hajar Ariff & Ong Siou Woon

Water Security is Everyone’s Responsibility

8 min read

Why can’t water security issues be solved by the government or the water distributor? This may seem like an easy problem to address—but no. In fact, it involves everyone, and we, the consumers, are wasting precious processed potable water.

by Ong Siou Woon

Developing The Hill Is An Uphill Climb

6 min read

Penang Hill remains one of the state’s more politically sensitive issues today. With renewed development efforts coming under fire from activists and the press, this is not about to change.

by Ong Siou Woon & Mohd Firdaus Habib Mohd

Mohd Firdaus Habib Mohd

Safeguarding Penang’s Water Supply

6 min read

We live in an age of swirling crises - economic crisis, energy crisis, food security crisis. What are the chances of a water crisis in the near future? And are we prepared to make the tough choices?

by Ong Siou Woon

Getting Malaysia’s First LEO Satellite into Orbit

5 min read

Ong Siou Woon, Chief Operating Officer of Penang Institute, spoke to Dato’ Dr. Sean Seah, Co-founder of Angkasa-X, a company investing in low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, on how Malaysia can progress in this area.

by Ong Siou Woon

Datuk Seri Lim Chong Keat – Relentless Champion of Penang’s Botanical Heritage

5 min read

Datuk Seri Lim Chong Keat shared his journey in botanical research and taxonomy. When asked what inspired him to venture into botany studies, as an auto-didactic amateur, he says, “One’s curiosity about the natural sciences has to be self-motivated. To be educated is to know what you don’t know.”

by Ong Siou Woon

Decentralisation in Malaysia

2 min read

A roundtable on “Decentralisation in Malaysia” was held in the Penang Legislative Assembly Hall on February 24 to discuss the contentious issue of decentralisation of governance in the country.

by Ong Siou Woon

A glance at Pulau Tikus Market

1 min read

Pulau Tikus Market turned 60 this year in August, and its long-time traders have a tale or two to tell. A lot of them went into the business at a young age – at first to help earn a living for their family, and later to finance a better education for their children.

by Ong Siou Woon