Making music tell stories
5 min read
This April’s Penang World Music Festival was touted to have the best line-up of musicians yet, with performances that were at once culturally educational...
Corruption and cronyism: Two sides of the same coin
5 min read
Following the first Bumiputera Economic Congress in 1965, Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) was established as a statutory body through an Act of Parliament. The trus...
A book that questions race and probes history
6 min read
Walking towards Red House Canteen at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Dr Ariffin Omar recounts to me his time as both a student and lecturer on and beyond the...
Malaysia’s great – and recent – identity crisis
4 min read
If ever there was a country chronically afflicted by an identity crisis, it would be ours. Debates rage on about how we should define our identities. For exampl...
Staging stories of iconic women
5 min read
It’s hard to believe from the way Sabera Shaik writhes and wriggles on the dance floor that she is 62 years old. Slender, mild-mannered and sharp-eyed, Sa...
Romancing Penang’s Ferry
5 min read
This August, some bright minds will transform the ferry walkway into a platform connecting the people of Seberang Perai with the island in more ways than one.
An avant-garde hotel for Pulau Tikus
4 min read
Michael Hanratty.Situated along the bustling Jalan Kelawai, in the heart of Pulau Tikus, is a futuristically designed building called G Hotel Kelawai. Uni...
A heritage trail of nostalgia (and food)
4 min read
Growing up in one place and walking past the same things every day, you tend not to notice the beauty and uniqueness that are there right in front of you. And s...
Highlights of George Town Festival 2015
11 min read
The Metamorphosis, Android VersionIn France sometime in the near future, as war rages in the background, Gregor wakes up one morning to find that he...
Malaysia’s troubled state
5 min read
Malaysia is currently in crisis. The ringgit seems to be on an inexorable downhill slide, ethnic tensions have deteriorated from uncomfortable simmer to open fl...
Giving the people a say – it’s their money after all
5 min read
Sometime in December last year, at a forum on the state and national budget organised by Lee Khai Loon, the state assemblyman for Machang Bubok, I threw out a c...
Making Words Perform Art
5 min read
At the George Town Literary Festival 2015, meet this group of people who create imagery and music with words.
