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.

Much Has Changed, But Much Remains The Same

9 min read

Has Malaysia truly become a tertiary stage services economy, after evolving from a primary stage economy in the 1950s and 1960s to a manufacturing based economy in the 1970s?

by Chan Huan Chiang

Chan Huan Chiang

Even for artists, it’s about location, location, location

8 min read

Susanna Helena Hernesniemi’s paintings (opposite page) often reflect a sense of disorientation and ambiguity of place.Strange how artists locate to...

by Ooi Kok Chuen

Penang outlook forum 2010

1 min read

THE PENANG OUTLOOK FORUM provides a platform for the assessment of Penang’s past achievements, present capabilities and future growth potential. This ye...

by Penang Monthly

Human Resource For The Halal Industry

2 min read

There are about 1.57 billion Muslims in the world today, and the number is growing. This means that the demand for safe, high-quality halal food will rise astronomically.

by Poh Heem Heem

Poh Heem Heem

Brain drain, once removed

8 min read

Petrina Lin Weilynn was born in Penang in 1986 and bundled to Hong Kong when she was just a few months old. Her father has been working at Hong Kong’s Sou...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Federalism going down the toilet

3 min read

Something that Malaysians have had to realise in recent months is that political power in the country has over the years become so centralised that local govern...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Democracy Is Essentially Local

7 min read

Local government elections were abolished by the Malaysian federal government in 1976 despite suggestions to the contrary by the body set up to study them. Thirty four years later, the State governments of Penang and Selangor are asking for federal support to reintroduce them.

by Tricia Yeoh

In Search of Good Penang Fiction

7 min read

Penang takes pride in having produced an endless string of intellectuals. But when it comes to good fictional writing, we certainly come out short. Why is this so? The late Lee Kok Liang is still the best we have had.

by Kee Thuan Chye

Earth Hour under the rain tree

3 min read

Dr Goh Ban Lee speaking at the 1st Penang Blueprint Roundtable.At precisely 8.30pm the electric lights went out, blanketing the grounds of the Socio-Econo...

by Jeffrey Hardy Quah

Penang pledges to promote green transport

3 min read

Representatives at the United Nations Forum on Climate Change Mitigation, Fuel Efficiency and Sustainable Development of Urban Transport.On march 16, 2010...

by Penang Monthly

A forgotten lady philanthropist

4 min read

Life in a colonial port was always complicated, and historical descriptions of individuals and events tended to reflect racial and gender biases, allowing many to fade away from memory. Tan Soon Cheng draws attention to a forgotten lady philanthropist.

by Tan Soon Cheng

Tan Soon Cheng

Whose rubbish is it anyway?

6 min read

This will soon be cleaned up by private companies, should the federal government have its way.The cabinet has decided that solid waste management (SWM) an...

by Khor Hung Teik

Khor Hung Teik

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