Literally Peaking
2 min read
Indeed, becoming literate used to be one of the best career moves anyone could make. In ancient China for example, extended families would concentrate their r...
Bookstores and Our Weak Sense of Self-worth
2 min read
In Ireland, there is a strong sense of cultural pride and identity in its bookstores. But can the same be said for Malaysia and Singapore?
Gender Relations: A Wrestle or a Dance?
2 min read
SOCIOLOGY IS THE study of how a certain society functions, and central to that ambition is the study of how different genders relate to each other in that socie...
Turning isolating distance into social space
2 min read
Like people in most developing countries, Malaysians suffer automobiles not only as a necessary tool for modern living, but as a purported key driver of the economy.
It’s been an exhilarating year
2 min read
The revamped PEM has now been around a year since the preview issue came out in September 2009. The response has been consistently good.
How will nationalism evolve?
2 min read
The biggest trick that the nation-state concept has pulled on modern man is the proposal that there is an essential line between the external and the internal.
The Present comes before the Past
2 min read
The past is significant not because of itself, but because the present – and the future – needs it.
Labour stripped down to bare essentials
2 min read
Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng reflects on the migrant workers of Malaysia and what it means to be a labourer.
All you hybrids, emerge from your closet
2 min read
Ethnocentrism is not the opposite of multiracialism. For some reason, we tend to suppose it to be so. The truth of the matter is, the contradistinction between the two is political, not logical.
A defensive psyche is colonialism’s legacy
2 min read
Continental conditions create polities and mindsets that vary remarkably from those found in maritime and riverine areas. In modern day Malaysia, the underlying socio-economic structure and primary acculturating forces instigated by our archipelagic geography shine through quite clearly.
The age of cities is at hand
2 min read
Penang is a unique city with a unique history. How would it fare in an age of urbanisation?
Remember Penang
2 min read
The revamped Penang Economic Monthly marks the beginning of reawakening Penang's potential. It’s about remembering its past, rethinking its future, and rebuilding a vibrant, innovative Penang.