Zairil Khir Johari - Penang Monthly

Freeing education from politics

5 min read

New nations tend to suffer from excessive politicking. Being moderate in many ways, politicking in Malaysia has permeated most aspects of nation building, bringing effects that are more long-term than if we had not been so moderate. This is most obvious in the field of education.

by Zairil Khir Johari

Entering New Territory With Open Tenders

11 min read

“What we really are is anti-corruption.” — Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan EngBy and large, it has achieved its objectives. Yet at the sa...

by Zairil Khir Johari

Cosmopolitanising Bahasa Malaysia

5 min read

Dynamism leads to cosmopolitanismAny language is a reflection of the society that uses it. Hence, any society that aims to attain an international cosmopoli...

by Zairil Khir Johari

A Post-Industrial Future for Penang?

9 min read

The advent of the digital era, characterised by seamless and instantaneous transfer of information and unprecedented levels of global interconnectedness, has se...

by Zairil Khir Johari

Back to the Future of Traffic Planning

6 min read

When one thinks of Penang today, a few things come to mind: the best food in the world, living heritage, multiculturalism, the hills, the beaches, CAT governanc...

by Zairil Khir Johari

The day BN won the election but lost the contest

9 min read

The evening began optimistically enough. By 7pm, my team members and I were gathered at the nomination centre, where the final votes were going to be tallied up...

by Zairil Khir Johari

Federalism arrested

7 min read

On September 16, 1963 a covenant was forged between the peoples of Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore, resulting in the creation of a new sovereign nation cal...

by Zairil Khir Johari

Penang: Malaysia’s Stepchild or Prodigal Child?

6 min read

The grandiose plans of the 11th Malaysia Plan, in a bizarre and unfair manner, excludes Penang.

by Zairil Khir Johari

Malaysia’s great – and recent – identity crisis

4 min read

If ever there was a country chronically afflicted by an identity crisis, it would be ours. Debates rage on about how we should define our identities. For exampl...

by Zairil Khir Johari

Flip-flops Trip Key Education Reforms

5 min read

In September 2013 the Ministry of Education (MOE) launched the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025, a document touted by then Education Minister Tan Sri Muhy...

by Zairil Khir Johari

Education – Ever The Political Victim

12 min read

The painful history of education policy shifts tells us that the power of the Ministry of Education must be drastically cut. It's out with the old and in with the new every time a crisis engulfs the country's leadership – and all at the expense of our children's education.

by Zairil Khir Johari

The Future is Now

8 min read

Exponential TimesWe now live in unprecedented times where the pace of evolution is no longer linear but exponential. In the 20th century alone, the population...

by Zairil Khir Johari