The day George Town grew up
4 min read
IT IS THE MORNING OF the New Year. The face of the Victoria Memorial Clock Tower blocking the rising sun to the east shows the time to be 8.50.Here, on the Es...
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.
Death and The Undertaker
5 min read
When a family mourns a loved one recently departed, there is no greater help than that offered by the undertaker. pem talks to Ooi Thean Choo, a funeral director whose experiences have made him ever more philosophical and caring.
What the Selangor State Secretary issue teaches us
6 min read
IN 1993 the Federal Constitution of Malaysia was amended with the aim of removing legal immunity of the royalty. Articles 32, 38, 42, 63, 72 and 181 were amended as a result.
Garbage Graves of Penang
8 min read
Most of us are happily unaware of where our garbage goes after leaving our bins. Very few of us on the island know that our rubbish takes a sea cruise from the Batu Maung Waste Transfer Station on barges to their final resting place on the mainland.
In Between Heaven and Earth
7 min read
Cheah Teng Hong is the director of Corporate Finance at the World Bank, where he has been since 1981.
The miracle of Penang Jazz
7 min read
PENANG'S JAZZ FESTIVAL is a small miracle. I say “small miracle” partly because “jazz” is not the most userfriendly word in the dictiona...
Freeing education from politics
5 min read
THERE IS ONE particular issue in this country that never fails to incite fierce debate, with passionate arguments – and the occasional flying brick &ndash...
All that Rozz-matazz
7 min read
It has been five years since Rozz first lit up Bagan’s stage with his electric takes on classic torch songs and Broadway numbers. With undeniable panache, Rozz fluidly melds the worlds of the masculine and the feminine.
Life on the List
14 min read
Puan Maimunah Sharif.ENOUGH TIME has now passed for PEM to start asking what the most signifi cant and most noticeable changes are. We also wish to find o...
The Shafee Yahaya Story: Estate Boy to ACA Chief
5 min read
This is a narrative about Datuk Shafee Yahaya, former Anti Corruption Agency (ACA) chief who assumed the position from June 16, 1994 to September 11, 1998, written by his wife, Datin Kalsom Taib.
The fine art of estimating economic health
10 min read
When reports say that the economy is growing at six per cent, this number is the change in the real (i.e. adjusted for inflation) gross domestic product (GDP) over a one-year period.
Being a part of what you paint
9 min read
“Kapitan Keling Mosque, Penang” (watercolour on paper).FOR ALL HIS FAME and extraordinary skills, Tan Choon Ghee never got to be fabulously ri...
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