The True Cost of Green Buildings
6 min read
THERE IS A commonly held belief in the Malaysian construction sector that green buildings are costly and require substantial investment to design and build. The...
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.
Urgent Need for a More Effective Disaster Management and Prevention Regime
4 min read
WITH FLASH FLOODS and air pollution to the occasional landslides, Penang is no stranger to natural disasters. As general development continues at a dizzying pac...
Penang’s Ultimate Challenge to Hikers
7 min read
Penang Hill Forest Challenge signboard.EVER WONDERED IF there is a hike in Penang that would push you to your mental and physical limits? One that is chal...
Don’t Miss Them! Art Exhibitions are Back
6 min read
READY BUT POSTPONED Or Cancelled.A litany of woes of short-circuited, still-born and miscarried exhibitions brought about by the protracted Coronavirus pandem...
Flying into Malaysia during the Pandemic
5 min read
FLYING DURING COVID-19 can be an intimidating affair. The overall experience is fraught with uncertainties: what are the odds of catching the virus inflight? Ca...
Are Our Trishaws Doomed?
3 min read
Trishaw operator Koay Beng Hong owns about 50 trishaws which he rents out to peddlers at a fee of RM2 per month. It is no secret that most of these peddlers are homeless, but are still intent on making their own living.
Suffering the MCO in the Services Sector
5 min read
PENANG’S SERVICES SECTOR is a shadow of its former self. On top of an already flailing entertainment industry and a row of F&B outlets biting the dust...
Tourism in Numbers
3 min read
MALAYSIA’S TOP VISITING country is Singapore, followed by Indonesia, China and Thailand. In 2019 Malaysia received more than 10 million tourists from the...
Tourism Development is Now Everyone’s Business – and Responsibility
8 min read
To restore visitors’ confidence, hygiene and sanitation have been catapulted to the top of the to-do list for many countries, and more iron-clad preventive measures have been introduced to guard against unwanted outbreaks. Malaysia is no exception.
No Creative Inertia for Malaysian Artists, Thank You
7 min read
WITH MORE PEOPLE getting vaccinated against Covid-19 with a view to achieving herd immunity, art spaces are opening up again, albeit still under SOPs such as we...
Introducing Culture Shot! Ethnically Diverse, Musically Intergrated
4 min read
THERE IS SOMETHING inexplicable about Penang and its local communities that is conducive to the free-flow of distinctive artistic expressions. Culture Shot came...
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Chinese Tea Becoming Popular in Penang Again
4 min read
TO ENJOY A good cup of Chinese tea, much depends on how the leaves of the camellia sinensis plant is processed; through withering, oxidation, fixing or “kill gr...
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