Penang Monthly

Penang Monthly, by Penang Institute, is the voice of Penang, offering insights on its people, politics, economy, culture, and society, with a focus on local and national issues for curious Malaysians.

824 posts

Fair Election Postponed Is Democracy Denied

6 min read

WILL the next general election be fair? This question has become urgent and pressing as claims are surfacing that the electoral roll is not clean, and fe...

by Penang Monthly

Love And More Is All Around

6 min read

LOVE LANE IS a remarkable name for a street and one which evokes romantic fantasies; it is a name perfectly suitable for a book or a movie title. The plot...

by Penang Monthly

Paradise Being Lost, All Is Not Well on Penang’s Beaches

14 min read

“YOU CANNOT SIT HERE, I just realised that,” Juergen Bosch says, looking at our surroundings as if for the first time, though we’ve been...

by Penang Monthly

Manning The State Government

9 min read

States in MalaysiaThe Malaysian flag, now affectionately called the Jalur Gemilang, raised at the Stadium Merdeka in 1957 when Malaya became a new nation, bea...

by Penang Monthly

Develop by All Means, But Not by Any Means

5 min read

I WOULD LIKE to touch on the issue of the type of development towards which Penang, in particular Penang Island, is headed.Let me begin with an anecdote. Rece...

by Penang Monthly

Why Compete When You Can Collaborate?

4 min read

A representative from the Newborn Care Centre, Royal Hospital for Women, Australia, leading a workshop on neonatal resuscitation.IN AN UNEXPECTED move, fi...

by Penang Monthly

Cooking From The Heart

3 min read

PEARLY IS A bundle of cheery energy and it’s apparent that her enthusiasm for life translates into intense, rapid-fire cooking classes. “An American...

by Penang Monthly

Larger Than Life

2 min read

Ng in his workshop, decorating traditional wooden clogs.Zacharevic at work.Wall versus canvas —what’s your preference?Er...

by Penang Monthly

Malaysia The Welfare State?

6 min read

EVER SINCE THE Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) muktamar in June, which had as its theme the “welfare state” policy concept, there has been a scram...

by Penang Monthly

Chinese and Muslim Societies As Natural Allies

7 min read

VERY LITTLE HAS BEEN written on the existence of two Muslim secret societies in Penang, namely the Red and the White Flags, and their association with the Chine...

by Penang Monthly

Penang Hill — Nature’s Gift to The Public

4 min read

INTERNATIONALLY, Penang Hill has little to shout about. It is nowhere near the fame of Huangshan in China or Mt Fuji in Japan. But to Penangites and many Mala...

by Penang Monthly

Now Let’s See How Clean We Can Get

7 min read

Rats, crows, clogged drains, dirty markets… these characterised Penang urban street life for a long time. Over the last two decades, however, the situati...

by Penang Monthly