Editorial - Penang Monthly (Page 6)

Why Meet the 21st century with 20th century Mindsets?

3 min read

Why Meet the 21st century with 20th century Mindsets?We should not forget that in the days before social media and news websites, the flow of information &n...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Social Media and the Self

3 min read

What is it about social media that turns us so easily into converts and addicts?This is not a difficult question to answer, really. It is immediate; it prov...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Is Capitalism without Socialism Sustainable?

2 min read

The fall of the Berlin Wall marked the end of the communist experiment, and to the extent that the experiment was an application of Marxist ideas about class...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Did Merdeka Liberate or Create Malaya?

2 min read

Sixty years may have passed since Merdeka Day, but its historical significance remains something we continue to debate.Did Malaya fight to free itself from...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

One Thing is Certain – Expect More Amendments to the Constitution

3 min read

As with all agreements, consensus and contracts, a Constitution is a hunt for a balance – and a dynamic one at that – between the expressing on on...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

The Primacy of Political Economy in Asia

3 min read

It’s a complicated subject, this thing we call Economics. I don’t always know what it means.I remember once talking to Robert Kuok about it. His...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Ecotourism – Conduit to a New Consciousness?

3 min read

Ecotourism sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?We do know that tourism brings benefits to a place, but we cannot deny the larger truth of what I like...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

The Hokkien Vernacular

3 min read

In lieu of a normal editorial, and in keeping with this month’s cover story being about Penang Hokkien, I am providing here in a somewhat truncated form...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

On Sexism, Racism, Ageism and other Bigotries

3 min read

A racist act is the conscious effort by one group identity to effectively reduce the social status and the security, the rights and the privileges, and the in...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

My Smartphone is My Sword

3 min read

Culture, if you ask me, is the joint expression of the interpersonal behaviours of a particular society over time. Within that, we find comfort and orientation...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Learning Mutual Respect May Be Easier Than We Think

3 min read

How does one show respect? How does one show tolerance? How does one show acceptance? These are important questions to answer when the ethnic and religi...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Should We Beware Humanity’s Collective Capacity Reaching Critical Mass?

2 min read

Man’s discoveries and inventions revolutionise him. That is a truismThe conquest of fire altered how and what we eat; the invention of the wheel chang...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng