December 2023 - Penang Monthly

Menu Rahmah Has Been Helpful, But What’s Next?

3 min read

Menu Rahmah offers RM5 meals to ease living costs for B40 Malaysians. While it helps families access nutritious food, rising costs threaten its sustainability. A proposed app could track impact and support vendors, ensuring no one is left behind.

by Humaira Shafril

The Post-Covid Crisis: Rising Food Prices

10 min read

Cooking used to be a fun passion project, but with rising food costs, it’s now a careful act of budgeting. This piece explores how inflation is reshaping how Malaysians eat, shop and survive.

by Sheryl Teoh

Fight for Your Man Caves and Your Comfort Foods

3 min read

You have your favourite places—rooms where you feel safe, where you can let go. These are your retreats, your reset zones. Equally vital are the comfort foods that soothe your soul. In a crowded, overstimulated world, such sanctuaries—physical and emotional—are more essential than ever.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

New Migrants Bring New Meals to Malaysia

9 min read

Many food recipes that present-day migrants bring with them are now our favourites. Below is a selection of meals and desserts often prepared by migrant workers and refugees in Malaysia, chosen because they each tell a story about another part of the world.

by Elroi Yee & Puah Sze Ning

How Food Price Increases Are Affecting Malaysians

1 min read

Footnotes:[1] According to UN Food and Agriculture Organizations (FAO), undernourishment is defined as not consuming enough calories to maintain a normal, activ...

by Doris Liew

When Penang Was an Axis Submarine Base

11 min read

The I-29’s mission to rendezvous with the U-180 was one of a series of long and dangerous missions to Nazi-controlled Europe, dubbed the Yanagi missions, for the exchange of technology, skills and military material.

by Eugene Quah

Breaking Down Budget 2024: Malaysia’s Path to Fiscal Consolidation, Economic Growth and Social Wellbeing

9 min read

Budget 2024, themed "Economic Reform, Empowering People", charts Malaysia’s largest-ever fiscal plan at RM393.8bil. It emphasises fiscal consolidation, targeted subsidies, revenue diversification, and growth through human capital, digitalisation and SME support.

by Doris Liew

Going Vegetarian

4 min read

First published by Pulau Pinang Magazine, a celebrated bi-monthly magazine that covered the culture, history, traditions and lifestyle of Penang. Edited by Khoo...

by Penang Monthly

Let’s Talk About Men’s Mental Health

5 min read

A survey conducted by the Ministry of Health in Malaysia shows that the national prevalence of depression in Malaysian adults is 2.3%—this translates to about half a million people. Men are generally less likely to seek help compared to women, and tend less to talk about their emotional distress.

by Kristina Khoo-Rhodes

The Vibrancy, Variety—and Silent Endurance—of Indian Cultures on Show

3 min read

“Spice and Curry”, staged from 4 to 5 November 2023, was a showcase of Indian artistic fare. The cosy and compact space at iBox Theatre was fitted with garlands, saree fabrics, glittering peacock features and burning incense.

by Fadzrina Ariffin

Notional Treasures Hidden in Oral Traditions

5 min read

What I discovered is that traditional performing arts in Malaysia offer more than just music, dance, intricate costumes and kenduri (ritual offerings), but also poetry—or rather “spoken poetry” in the form of doa, mantra, incantations and jampi.

by Izzuddin Ramli

George Town and Adelaide Come Together Again

3 min read

IN THE ANNALS of modern Penang are a number of exceptional legacies left behind by the late Tun Dr. Lim Chong Eu, such as the Bayan Lepas Free Trade Industrial...

by Ian McIntyre