Literature is Not About Winning Prizes
5 min read
A Malaysian writer to win the Nobel Prize for literature by 2057, the 100th anniversary of the country’s independence – that’s the challenge t...
June 2026
Discover Penang Monthly’s June issue: explore the stories behind Penang’s enduring heritage brands, the richness of its multilingual and multicultural heritage, innovative local businesses, community-led initiatives, and the challenges shaping the state’s future. From family enterprises and semiconductor pioneers to traditional food, festivals, education, and environmental sustainability, this issue celebrates Penang’s resilience, identity, and capacity for renewal.
The Bead Goes On
4 min read
It was like entering a treasure cave when Litad Mulok finally let me into the small building located across from her house.Arranged on long tables were thousa...
A Dreamy Tribute in 35mm
5 min read
With an eagle etched over his throat, 30-year-old Samuel Carter looks more like a tattoo-parlour apprentice than a self-made vintage photographer. “Photog...
A Hike Worth Getting Lost For!
5 min read
The fishing village of Gertak Sanggul seems to belong to a bygone era. Chinese farmhouses face the sea and fishermen’s huts line the quiet, sandy beach of...
Bringing Books to the Public
8 min read
It was 1806 and C. Smith Esquire had a problem in Penang. Someone had borrowed the second part of the second volume of his Encyclopædia Britannica’s...
No Child Goes Hungry in New Taipei City
4 min read
In metropolitan areas, franchise convenience stores such as 7-Eleven and FamilyMart can be found practically everywhere. No longer content with selling instant...
Insidious Selfies: Should Leaders Act like the Rest of Us?
7 min read
Last year in May, President Barack Obama came to Malaysia for the first time. When he was here, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak couldn’t resist...
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...
TPPA – The Winners and the Losers
14 min read
The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) is a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) that involves 12 Pacific Rim countries: Singapore, Brunei, New Zeal...
Fighting the Big C
7 min read
Hopes were high when former US President Richard Nixon first declared war on cancer in 1971 through the signing of the National Cancer Act. However, 45 years la...
Traditional Old Cures Find New Devotees
5 min read
Penang is culturally diverse, and it is quite natural that it has on offer a variety of traditional medicines including Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Mala...
Just for Jazz
4 min read
Music is an avenue to express oneself, and the passionate heady sounds of jazz allow both performer and listener to become intimately enraptured.
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