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.

Preserving Sacred Traditions: Tow Bu Kong Temple of Hong Kong Street

2 min read

WALKING ALONG Hong Kong Street in George Town, I stumbled upon a hidden gem that continues to uphold Chinese traditions among the local Chinese community. The T...

by Hiroshi Yamashita

Dare To Dream, Then Comes The Excelling

4 min read

EXCELLENCE IS MANIFESTED through our desire to be the best and to achieve perfection. When we were students, we studied hard to get an A+ or to be the top stude...

by Lydia Chan

Letter To The Editor

1 min read

I AM HOLIDAYING with my wife in Malaysia and we are staying in Penang for a few days. I found the Penang Monthly in our hotel room and it is particularly intere...

by Penang Monthly

The Delightful Doors at Rifle Range

2 min read

THE RIFLE RANGE FLATS, built in 1969 as Penang’s first low-cost flats, consist of nine blocks of 17-storey buildings, housing a total of 3,888 units. They stand...

by Yang Zhen Siang

Yang Zhen Siang

A Subtly Empowering Tale of a Woman Between Worlds

3 min read

Note: This review may contain spoilers.

by Aoife Sacker Ooi

A Chance to Relive the World of Chinese Opera in Penang

4 min read

WHAT WAS ONCE a familiar sight in Penang has now become a hidden treasure. Despite the apparent decline of Chinese opera, the Leong family has managed to preser...

by Kelvyn Yeang

Loving Tea - From Bud to Cup

5 min read

I LOOKED UP from my laptop screen, tearing my eyes from the pixels drumming on my corneas, reached for my cup of Ching Dragonwell green tea (more commonly known...

by Rachel Yeoh

Are You Reading This?

10 min read

In two studies published in 2006 and 2009, Mar et al. found that fiction readers empathise with people, understand them and can see the world from another person’s perspective better.

by Sheryl Teoh

What Bliss A Hidden Bookstore Brings

5 min read

“BOOKSTORES ARE LONELY FORTS, spilling light onto the sidewalk. They civilise their neighbourhoods,” said John Updike. The truth is, they are even lonelier thes...

by Yeoh Siew Hoon

The Benevolent Madam Tan Say Seang: Penang philanthropist par excellence

9 min read

ON SATURDAY, 14 December 1907, at 12.30pm, the sentry on duty at the police station in the rustic village of Tanjung Tokong “noticed that one of the buildings i...

by Eugene Quah

Penang Nyonya Recipes: Preserving Our Important Heritage

4 min read

A collection of old recipes accumulated over time will provide a record of changing tastes with regard to Penang Nyonya cuisine, and we would be able to recreate the “old and traditional taste” (what Hokkiens call kochabi) from recipes retrieved from the repository.

by Dr. Ong Jin Teong

Individuals in Business with Books

5 min read

THEY ARE THE caretakers of worlds. As most bookshops (especially chains and distributors) move online, indie ones stand as a triumphant testament that bookshops...

by Rachel Yeoh

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