February 2020 - Penang Monthly

With Sights Set on More Innovation

5 min read

Penang Monthly meets up with Datuk Gooi Soon Chai, senior vice president and president (Electronic Industrial Solutions Group) of Keysight Technologies, as he shares his views on Penang’s industrialisation journey, talent upgrading and the importance of STEM education.

by Ong Wooi Leng & Lee Siu Ming

Lee Siu Ming

Penang’s Fashion Industry Needs A Nudge in the Right Direction

7 min read

THE WORLD OF fashion is a vast wonderland sustained by passion, creativity and a wish to transcend normalcy. Fashion is best defined as apparel worn at a partic...

by Rahula Loh

A Future in Penang for the Film Industry

5 min read

It was not until 1963, when the television was introduced, that the local film industry truly experienced a shock; and with the introduction of coloured television and VHS in the 1970s, Malaysians realised they no longer needed to frequent the cinemas for movies.

by Izzuddin Ramli

Artists We Lost in 2019

9 min read

Works of art are invested with a certain immortality long after the creator dies. In their honour, what follows are requiems for artists we lost in 2019.

by Ooi Kok Chuen

Time to Reinvest in Chinese Art

5 min read

Chinese ink painting was once a focus of Penang’s Chinese community, especially among groups passionate for Chinese arts and culture, during the 30s and 40s. That was when artists from China still came to Penang, nourishing and inspiring the place.

by Nicole Chang

Are Digital Disruptions Laying the Foundations for Holistic Education in the 21st Century?

6 min read

All of us should sense very clearly by now that the education industry is a ripe fruit that is about to fall in the digital storm that has been blowing around the world since the turn of this century.

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Turmoil and Tranquillity Set in Malaysia

4 min read

Tan Twan Eng’s The Garden of Evening Mists entangles protagonists Teoh Yun Ling, the lone survivor of a brutal Japanese wartime camp, and Nakamura Aritomo, an exiled former gardener of the Japanese emperor.

by Regina Hoo

The Creative Industries as Cultural and Economic Catalyst

8 min read

In the normal practice of evaluating education through measurables and eventual market worth, the need to encourage creativity in students is often neglected as it is considered to be a talent that is inert, and not one which can be developed.

by Alexander Fernandez & Lim Sok Swan & Pan Yi Chieh

Creative Industries in Numbers

3 min read

Malaysia’s National Creative Industry Policy (DIKN) which draws on DCMS’s definition of creative industries identifies 14 sub-sectors, dividing them into three distinct categories: Multimedia, Cultural Arts and Cultural Heritage.

by Negin Vaghefi

Crafting Ideas That Sell

6 min read

The prevalence of social media has greatly influenced people’s spending power. They don’t just rely on advertisements any longer, but rather base their purchasing decisions on the information and reviews found online, which is why today copywriters are called writers instead.

by Alexander Fernandez

Sculpturing Public Spaces

6 min read

To attract people to interact in public spaces, the first step has been to beautify them, and that is easily done through art. And taken as a whole, the intrusion of art into once unmanaged public spaces in Penang is the Penang Sculpture Trail.

by Pan Yi Chieh

Handicrafts are More than Just Knick-knacks

4 min read

The handicraft industry was a thriving value-added service for Penang’s free port, but times have since changed. Previously hampered by slow production speed, the uniqueness of individual handicrafts is now threatened by mass production exacerbated by technological growth spurts.

by Alexander Fernandez & Lim Sok Swan