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.

National History Based on Half-truths Undermines the Critical Spirit of the Young

5 min read

A NATIONAL HISTORY is never fixed and instead, tends to take on chameleon-like characteristics. Malaysian history is no different. Under colonial rule, the popu...

by Santhiram R. Raman

Santhiram R. Raman

Pottery in Penang: A Folk Art with a Future

4 min read

To make pottery, one must understand the nature of Earth, of clay, more fundamentally. It starts with sourcing the right body from five main clay types: earthenware, stoneware, ball, fire and kaolin.

by Lim Sok Swan

Wayang Kulit: Surviving Beyond the Shadows

7 min read

THERE WERE AROUND 40 people that night. Some of them had arrived from the nearby kampung and the town, and had settled comfortably on the mengkuang mats scatter...

by Izzuddin Ramli

The Steinway – The Jewel in the PPO’s Crown

3 min read

THE STEINWAY AND SONS is Penang Philharmonic Orchestra’s (PPO) most prized purchase.A serendipitous meeting with Karina Ridzuan, formerly the CEO of the...

by Enzo Sim

Covid-19 Complicates Retirement Plans

7 min read

THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL crisis of 2008 had a brief negative impact – through asset values and inflation – on retirement savings, but luckily in Malay...

by Yap Jo-yee

Parenting in a Pandemic: Tension, Stress and Guilt

5 min read

NO INSTRUCTION MANUALS nor guide books were available on “How to parent under lockdown”, especially not in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic....

by Chan Xin Ying & Hasanah Akhir

The Way of Kueh

4 min read

“I’VE BEEN WITNESSING a detrimental culinary trend taking place in Singapore over the years; our kuehs are slowly being forgotten by the younger gen...

by Enzo Sim

Confessions of a Framer of Art

7 min read

WOULD YOU BLOW a couple of hundred Ringgit to frame just a small piece of tissue paper?This was one of the curious incidents in the 38 years of arty framing b...

by Ooi Kok Chuen

Laurence Loh: Raising Consciousness of Penang’s Heritage, Restoration by Restoration

5 min read

THE NAME LAURENCE Loh has over the past decades become synonymous to the conservation of cultural heritage, having saved many of Penang’s dilapidated hist...

by Enzo Sim

A Rocky Road to Economic Recovery

7 min read

DISCUSSIONS AT THE Penang Economic Outlook 2021 webinar organised by Penang Institute on January 27, 2021 made it clear that industrialists and think tankers ar...

by Yap Jo-yee

Malaysian Artists Invade the Web

6 min read

ZAS visit to Prof Madya Ramlan Abdullah’s studio-workshop in Shah Alam.Session with Anniketyni Madian and Maxine Xie Xian Xin.IDLE TIME AND re...

by Ooi Kok Chuen

From Engineering to Art, From Sarawak to Scotland

5 min read

Iona explains "A Cross to Bear”, an artwork based on paternal influence. Photo: Esther Ping DominicAS A CHILD, Iona Danald would watch her maternal...

by Esther Ping Dominic

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