Editorial - Penang Monthly

The Inclusive Ownership Of Penang And Its Paradoxes

3 min read

What makes a Penangite is not birthplace, but attachment. In this reflection on identity and belonging, Penang emerges as a place shaped by contradiction—provincial yet cosmopolitan, fragile yet resilient—held together by the people who care enough to claim it as their own.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Staying Sane By Acknowledging Our Rural Soul

3 min read

IN THE ENGLISH language, a “hamlet” or “colony” connotes a place of untainted being. Nature is close by, human warmth…

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Acquiring A Pro-Active Life Should Make Active Ageing A Walk In The Park

3 min read

We celebrate active ageing as aspiration and policy goal. But the term hints that growing old means becoming passive. In truth, to age actively is to reclaim initiative—to nurture the inner capacity to act, choose and give meaning.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Expanding Comfort Zones and Third Places

3 min read

If urban living means that I possess a little space to call home, feel safe in and control, then how much I feel at home in a city would depend very much on how much home-like access I have when out in public.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Is AI the Next Stage in Human Enlightenment or a Return to Some Dark Age?

2 min read

With the invention and re-invention of printing—first in China, and then in the West—universal literacy, though not achieved even today, became a long-term possibility.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Eating with Senses Mingling

3 min read

When it comes to food and our ability to accept and enjoy it or to reject and discard it, humans actually rely on both Tongue and Nose to decide.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

GTLF: One of Penang Institute's Two Annual Flagship Events

3 min read

Picnics are such optimistic events, come to think of it. A paradise for the multitasker, a dream for those in the family who love to keep connections alive, a time to touch base. Much can go wrong at picnics, no doubt, but they hold so much promise.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Between the Bookends of Birth and Death

2 min read

We fear death, but when it does appear, we find that we do accept it, simply because there is no choice.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Relying on the Proximate and the Immediate to Keep Sane in a Virtual World

4 min read

Narratives are, by their nature, a collective event and a social event; in sum, they are an exercise of power as well, a nexus where different wills and opinions wrestle each other to emerge with as much claim to being true as possible.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Awake in Time for a Terengganu Sunrise

3 min read

Time is ticking by. Flash by flash, wave by wave, breath by breath. Azan by azan, full moon by full moon, sunrise by sunrise. Repeating, reiterating, reciting. And yet, this is but half the story of the universe.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Dealing With the Droppings of Daily Life

3 min read

Novelties, novelties and new fashions. All crowding our homes and our heads. Within this paraphernalia of modern living, we try to stay balanced.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Defining Penang Exceptionalism Through Its Geography, Its Biology and Its Human History

4 min read

One trait in people from Penang is that they are passionate about the place. Besides being their home, it is almost a holy place to them—a blessed place that inspires, attracts and awes most visitors.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng