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.

Is Capitalism without Socialism Sustainable?

2 min read

The fall of the Berlin Wall marked the end of the communist experiment, and to the extent that the experiment was an application of Marxist ideas about class...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Pondering Malaysia’s Socio-economic Pessimism

11 min read

Hari Raya Aidilfitri is supposed to be a joyous celebration, a return to family and one’s roots. This year however, it was strangely sombre. Karim Raslan,...

by Ho Yi Jian

Letter to the Editor

3 min read

Sepoy Lines Recreation Club.Thank you for the great articles that really do bring back so many memories. I am now a resident of Perth, Australia, and sinc...

by Penang Monthly

Did Merdeka Liberate or Create Malaya?

2 min read

Sixty years may have passed since Merdeka Day, but its historical significance remains something we continue to debate.Did Malaya fight to free itself from...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Wan Azizah & Nurul Izzah: Rebuilding A Nation Long Divided

21 min read

 By Ooi Kee BengNurul Izzah, Daughter of the Reformasi, and of the jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, was pulled into politics as a young gi...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

A Portrait of Change: Bayan Lepas

6 min read

Once known as the rice bowl of Penang, not many would have envisioned Bayan Lepas as the vibrant urbanscape that it is today. This visual account of everyday life in and around Bayan Lepas at present is as much a dip into the past as it is a glimpse of the future.

by Jonathan Lim

One Thing is Certain – Expect More Amendments to the Constitution

3 min read

As with all agreements, consensus and contracts, a Constitution is a hunt for a balance – and a dynamic one at that – between the expressing on one hand of lofty national aspirations and ambitions, and on the other of compromises meant to be more binding than they usually turn out to be.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Historical Heights of Penang

2 min read

Historically, tall structures served as beacons of peace and war. From afar, belfries, minarets and pagodas provided visitors and local communities with a recog...

by Dan Lee

The Primacy of Political Economy in Asia

3 min read

It’s a complicated subject, this thing we call Economics. I don’t always know what it means.I remember once talking to Robert Kuok about it. His...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

The Rotiman Rides On – Perhaps into the Sunset

Call him Rotiman. His ringing bell – like clockwork on most days – brings folk out from their houses to clamour around his motorbike for wholesome b...

by Ooi Kok Hin

Ecotourism – Conduit to a New Consciousness?

3 min read

Ecotourism sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?We do know that tourism brings benefits to a place, but we cannot deny the larger truth of what I like...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

The Sights, Sounds and Smells of Butterworth are Getting Stronger

3 min read

Think City, a community-focused urban regeneration organisation along with a few other passionate parties are encouraging new ventures and looking for proposals and ideas to put new heart into Butterworth.

by Mark Walker

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