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.

835 posts

Saying It With Food - The Culinary Heritage of Penang’s Jawi Peranakan

7 min read

History, kinship and family The Jawi Peranakan was the most visible hybrid Straits Muslim community in the Straits Settlements during the colonial era. In lif...

by Penang Monthly

Malaysians! Know Your Governments

6 min read

With 2012 being a possible election year, Malaysians will hear endless speculation about possible poll dates and outcomes. In making a decision on who to vote f...

by Penang Monthly

The George Town Literary Festival 2011 - A Storybook Success

5 min read

In November 2011, the weekend-long inaugural George Town Literary Festival got underway. It is indeed hard to believe that the 225-year-old city had never hoste...

by Penang Monthly

Tribute to Khoo Khay Jin (1948-2011)

4 min read

The community of social science scholars and public intellectuals in Malaysia and Malaysianists are once again shocked and grieved, this time to hear of the unt...

by Penang Monthly

Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011 – A Further Blow to Democracy

6 min read

In his Malaysia Day message delivered on the eve of September 16, 2011, Prime Minister Najib Tun Abdul Razak announced what many initially thought was good news...

by Penang Monthly

Gurney Drive Memories

4 min read

One can feel the heart of the city beating with a stop-motion movement as the high rise luxury condominiums grow into a dense forest. As I gazed at the seafront...

by Penang Monthly

CUSTODIAN OF MAINLAND PENANG

4 min read

As with all municipalities, the wellbeing of the residents is partly in the hands of those who run the local authority. In Seberang Perai, this is the Majlis Pe...

by Penang Monthly

Seberang Perai - The Adopted Child Matures

13 min read

A brief historyA peek into the history of the state clearly shows the reason for the neglect of Seberang Perai by the government of Penang. When Francis Light...

by Penang Monthly

More and More Malls in Penang

9 min read

Penang’s retail landscapeIn recent years, shopping malls, hypermarkets and departmental stores have been rapidly growing on both the island and the main...

by Penang Monthly

1Care – A Careless Reform

6 min read

IntroductionAneurin Bevan (1897-1960), the UK’s Minister of Health immediately after the Second World War, once stressed that where medical needs exist,...

by Penang Monthly

Civil Society and Pakatan Governments

6 min read

Interestingly, many individuals from nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) made the decision to join (then) opposition parties and contest in the 12th General El...

by Penang Monthly

Faces of Industrial Penang: Hamdan – Doer and Dreamer

6 min read

Tell us something about your background.My early years were in Penang. I left Penang Free School to pursue a degree in Economics from the University of Lond...

by Penang Monthly