Understanding Political Economy Through The Microcosmic Night Market
4 min read
THE POLITICAL ECONOMY encompassing the night market is strangely illuminative of human society. Why do I say that?
Now, one…
Reassessing Hobbies In The Age Of Social Media
4 min read
In this thought-provoking essay, Dato’ Dr. Ooi Kee Beng reflects on what hobbies reveal about modern life. Exploring ideas of identity, creativity, work and wellbeing, he argues that hobbies are more than pastimes—they are quiet acts of self-definition in an increasingly utilitarian world.
Migrants And The Mobility Of Their Economic Culture
3 min read
THE CONNECTION BETWEEN culture and economics is a fascinating one. Staying alive is much easier to do as a group…
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.
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…
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.