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.

Making Penang More Resilient to Disasters

5 min read

Sustainable development is targeted at finding pragmatic strategies to promote economic and social development in ways that avoid environmental degradation, over-exploitation and pollution.

by Dr. Lee Khiam Jin

CEMACS’ Coastal Cleanup Month Nets Cigarette Butts, Face Masks and Gloves

3 min read

TAKE A LONG leisurely walk along Penang’s beaches. What do you see? Iterations of clustered seashells dotting their lengths perhaps, but among them as wel...

by Annette Jaya Ram & Dr. Abe Woo Sau Pinn

Two Perspectives on Late Colonial Life in Penang

5 min read

THE RECENT REPUBLICATION OF The Sara Saga and Hail Penang!, with new introductions and illustrations, marks the beginning of Areca Books’ valuable efforts...

by Penang Monthly

The Gig Economy Comes to the Rescue of the Retrenched, but at a Cost

6 min read

THE YEAR 2020 saw seismic shifts in the job market structure. Soon after the MCO was announced last March, unemployment rates in Malaysia jumped significantly f...

by Yap Jo-yee

Penang Now a Prime Centre for Wafer Fabrication Equipment Manufacturing

5 min read

THE GLOBAL FORTUNE 500 company Lam Research Corporation (Lam Research) announced last February that it will soon be investing in Penang.A global supplier of i...

by Lee Siu Ming

Lee Siu Ming

Biking Through the Valley of Death

1 min read

IT WAS APRIL 28, 2019. On my KTM 1290 Super Adventure R, I exited Penang through Bukit Kayu Hitam. The group of us, seven riders in total, were on our way to Ti...

by Ong Soo Yong

Ong Soo Yong

Come Travel the Rich Food Trail in Bukit Mertajam

5 min read

PENANG’S GASTRONOMIC DELIGHTS are world-renowned. But somewhat biasedly, these are often limited to the offerings found on the Island. The food scene in m...

by Marcus Dip Silas

To Leave is a Basic Right

3 min read

COVID-19 HAS killed over 1.5 million people worldwide, crippled huge segments of the economy and made fear for our individual safety a nagging concern. Masks an...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

George Town Festival 2011 Highlights

3 min read

Peranakan PenangDate: July 1, 2011Time: 8pmVenue: Grand Ballroom, Eastern & Oriental Hotel, Farquhar StreetScheduled to be the Gala Opening fo...

by Penang Monthly

More Federalism, Less Centralism

2 min read

Malaysians are known to be multilingual as a rule, especially in urban or semi-urban areas where flows of cultures mingle.This mingling can take place in an...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Do Suicides Plague Artists More than Others?

7 min read

A dark harbinger? One of the sordid Black on Gray Series painted by Mark Rothko before his suicide.ARE VISUAL ARTISTS by the nature and process of their c...

by Ooi Kok Chuen

Manifesting the Box Out of Which We Should Think

4 min read

Dreamer Series – Constitute by Low Chee Peng.Boxed In I (top) and Boxed In II (bottom) by Aboud Fares.WANTING TO THINK “outside the bo...

by Enzo Sim

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