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.

Art Expo Malaysia Marches On While Others Stumble

4 min read

It’s a feat that the International Art Expo Malaysia (AEM) is now in its 13th year, though it is increasingly tough to keep up with the fast-changing game...

by Ooi Kok Chuen

Getting the Most Out of Heritage Restoration

4 min read

In heritage management, focusing on the tangible elements is generally the first step. This is due to their comparative visibility, to well-developed restoratio...

by Pan Yi Chieh

Writing the Cycles of Womanhood

2 min read

Provocative with a generous dash of genius, Hiromi Ito gained prominence in the Japanese literary scene in the 1980s. Among her English readers, Ito is best kno...

by Regina Hoo

GTLF Continues to Cultivate Penang’s Curiosity

7 min read

Arts festivals and fairs are born with some pomp. They then grow, peak and, in some cases, fade away – the celebrated and long-running Penang Island Jazz...

by Julia Tan

Listen! Are Those Not Sounds of Borneo Echoing Down the Streets of Penang?

4 min read

With a name like Sada Borneo, one would think that the band had its start in Sarawak. But guess again.Sada Borneo was in fact formed in Penang, more specifica...

by Regina Hoo

Youths in Numbers

5 min read

Youth PopulationThe share of Penang’s youth population has been decreasing since 2015. Nevertheless, the decrease over the years is considered minute, a...

by Yeong Pey Jung

Beware the Monsters Among Us

4 min read

Recently, a group of youth activists from the International Islamic University were in Penang to organise a creative initiative to raise awareness on child sexu...

by Zairil Khir Johari

Our Children Need to Understand Sexuality

5 min read

Late August this year in the Klang Valley, an 11-year-old girl wrote a note to a boy in her school saying she wanted to have sex with him.“Please,&rdquo...

by Rahula Loh

Bringing Excess Food Back from the Brink

4 min read

Calvin Chan Yi Xuan was barely 20 years old when he won the Penang Green Idol, an annual competition organised by the Penang Green Council to reward and encoura...

by Emilia Ismail

Letting A Teen Think Like An Entrepreneur

4 min read

It was not an easy competition to start with – beginning at the school level, it proceeded to the state level, and then national and international. Each c...

by Emilia Ismail

Embracing Life Despite Cancer

5 min read

At 17, Alicia Ong was excitedly on the precipice of adulthood when she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), or in her words “the good s...

by Regina Hoo

How Different the Kelantan of My Youth Was

4 min read

Our lives revolve around locating ourselves within the unfamiliar, and coming to terms with all the differences that we chance upon in our surroundings. There a...

by Izzuddin Ramli

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