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.

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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.

Legacies of Leprosy

8 min read

I first became interested in the Sungai Buloh leprosarium when I produced a documentary in 2007 about the people living there. Established in 1930, it used to be one of the biggest leprosarium in the world. It is now known as the National Leprosy Control Centre.

by Tan Ean Nee

Tan Ean Nee

Penang Hospital for the Orient

19 min read

Nearly four years ago, a CNBC special report highlighted Malaysia’s rapidly expanding medical tourism sector. It was a surprise for many viewers that the US-based network focused on Penang’s private hospitals considering that Malaysia’s capital has 24 private hospitals compared to Penang’s 12.

by Rosalind Chua

Rosalind Chua

A Fresh Paradigm for Penang

5 min read

The Penang Paradigm is a comprehensive development agenda for Penang in the coming decade. Prepared by the Penang Institute, it seeks to strengthen three key pr...

by Penang Monthly

At Home with the Peranakan Chinese

3 min read

Hybridity is the essence of cultural development, and it is largely for political and economic reasons that the process of cultural definition is carried, large...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Regional outlook

4 min read

Southeast Asia in 2013 and Beyond: Its Global Role and ChallengeKeynote Address: Jusuf Kalla Former Vice President, Republic of IndonesiaEconomic progress r...

by Penang Monthly

(Sun)burning for PSY

3 min read

The papers warned of a crowd 60,000 strong, which translated as a massive jam alert. Typical of Penangites, we fretted. In the end, it wasn’t the traffi...

by Julia Tan

Artists with Pioneering Status

5 min read

In 1992, a practising psychiatrist who had been collecting art for only five years produced, out of the blue, a fairly scholarly tome on the genesis of Modern M...

by Ooi Kok Chuen

Surviving G4's Crisis Measures

11 min read

Policies in G4 countries (the US, Europe, Japan and the UK) are likely to shape economic strategies and the global economic environment for years to come. Their...

by Penang Monthly

Ensuring Growth to Ensure Sustainability

6 min read

The Singapore government recently faced public outcry following the release of a white paper on its country’s projected population growth rate. The paper...

by Penang Monthly

Leapfrogging Development with ICT

7 min read

In November 2012, two important regional meetings on ICT were held. The first was the Asean ICT Ministers Meeting in the Philippines, which saw the launch of th...

by Dr. Lee Khiam Jin

Teeming, Tranquil Hanoi

5 min read

When you first wake up in the morning, you might not see Hanoi, but you can definitely hear it. This non-stop beep beep beep of motorbikes and cars accompanies the lifting of the nocturnal veil for this city of 6.4 million people.

by Veronica Liew

How Far can Indonesia's Consumption-Driven Growth Go?

6 min read

The economic boom is visible in Jakarta, where construction leads the capital city's entry into a 21st century economy; the drive from the airport into the cent...

by Penang Monthly

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