November 2025

This November, Penang Monthly explores language, place and memory. As GTLF returns, we highlight Penang’s multilingual streets and the dialects that keep local history alive.

See Inside Read as Flipbook

Hello and welcome!

A publication of Penang Institute, Penang Monthly is the voice of Penang - an inspiring read for the curious Malaysian, featuring stories about the people, ideas, and issues shaping the state's well-being. Sign up for a free account to enjoy unlimited access to all our articles.

Auditor-General Report 2011: Critique of Selected Education Projects

4 min read

Water seeping through the cracks of the walls in the school. Oil leaking from the pipe connected to the oil tank. Empty classrooms and abandoned teachers’...

by Penang Monthly

Curious Pak Alam

5 min read

Pak Alam’s passion for repairing vintage bicycles started out as a hobby when he was 14, and like all of his other interests, this grew into something approaching obsession.

by Sharyljit Kaur

Sharyljit Kaur

Halal Hub in the Making

7 min read

The halal industry as a whole has expanded beyond its traditional association with food fit for Muslim consumption. The Penang state government, for example, ha...

by Penang Monthly

Malaysian's Education Divide

15 min read

Class mattersInequality exists in every society, but the level of education received can intensify or mitigate it by changing the individual’s skill lev...

by Penang Monthly

That Little Wine Bar

3 min read

Penang’s at Little Wine Bar offered me just the kind of place I was seeking. An opportunity to “chillax” with friends and catch up on their pa...

by Penang Monthly

Smoking opium in Penang, 1854

4 min read

It destroyed countless lives and countless families, and came to be associated with Chinese culture despite the trade being run largely by the British as part o...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

In Awed Appreciation of PAGO-PAGO

6 min read

Dark Pago-Pago, oil on canvas, 1967.It is moot if so many Pago-Pago works of Malaysia’s great artist Latiff Mohidin can ever be assembled again unde...

by Ooi Kok Chuen

Shaping George Town Festival

3 min read

How do you put together George Town’s biggest annual festival with very limited time, funding and space? That’s what Joe Sidek has to think about ev...

by Penang Monthly

Cindy Gallop Connecting Change-makers

6 min read

Cindy Gallop would like to be remembered as somebody who changed the world, or at least as somebody who tried.

by Amanda Yeoh

Attention, please! Public Health Services Need Improving

4 min read

When Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak visited Penang on December 8, 2012, he promised to build 20,000 a ordable condominiums and a monorail if the BN w...

by Penang Monthly

Curing the Healthcare System

5 min read

As a matter of fact, public health and sanitation are included in the so-called Concurrent List, which theoretically means that that area of administration invo...

by Penang Monthly

Off The Beaten Track in Hong Kong

5 min read

Hong Kong is not all concrete, and actually has quite a lot to offer to nature and outdoor enthusiasts. A favorite weekend pastime of Hong Kong inhabitants is hiking.

by Lim Li Lian

Total posts

3409

Explore column

Ads

Support us

As Penang Monthly continues to evolve, we aim to deliver better quality reads. At present, our issues are free to be read. But we need your financial support as we endeavour to be the voice of Penang and an inspiring read for the curious Malaysian. Every RM100 contribution from individuals (or RM1,000 for corporations) will be entitled to tax exemption receipt.

Explore column

Feature

Editorial

Cover Story

Statistics

Photo Essay

Covid-19 Exclusives

Penang Profile

Ask Azmi