Rising from the ashes
8 min read
Long before most Malaysians thought green was trendy, when recycling was something you needed a bicycle for, there was Jimmy Lim.
An Eminent Malaysian Academic Abroad
10 min read
Professor Aihwa Ong is an internationally respected anthropologist with at least 10 books to her name. Born in Penang where she had her entire pre-tertiary education, she is now a Professor of Socio-Cultural Anthropology at the University of California at Berkeley, the United States.
The man who industrialised Penang
6 min read
Any penangite born less than 40 years ago will not have known a Penang that was not a hub for the world’s electronics industry. Before the 1970s, the stat...
Building the Penang Bridge
8 min read
LIAW YEW PENG could have been a doctor. His grades were good enough, and he enjoyed subjects like biology. Many of his peers had chosen to go into medicine. Car...
On vibrant port cities and anomalous nation states
6 min read
Ho Eng Seng returned to Penang in 1986 from Stanford University with degrees in Anthropology and Economics. The timing was bad, however. The country was in th...
Penang girl Judy heads UN Peacebuilders
8 min read
When UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Penang girl Judy Cheng-Hopkins as Assistant Secretary- General for Peacebuilding Support (PBSO) on April 17, 2009, she became the highest ranking Malaysian in the organisation.
Pluck, Luck and A Practical Mind
7 min read
Datuk Seri Kelvin Kiew, the outspoken chairman and president of Mini-Circuits Technologies Malaysia speaks to PEM about his humble beginnings and the formidable woman he credits for his success.
An Old Chung Ling Boy Who Thought Big
5 min read
Penang-born entrepreneur Loke Gim Tay balances business success with a deep love for Chinese art and culture, championing Penang's heritage while supporting artists across borders.
All that Rozz-matazz
7 min read
It has been five years since Rozz first lit up Bagan’s stage with his electric takes on classic torch songs and Broadway numbers. With undeniable panache, Rozz fluidly melds the worlds of the masculine and the feminine.
Giving Guests More
7 min read
MARCO GIOVANNI BATTISTOTTI is a familiar face in the Penang hotel scene. A larger than life figure, figuratively and literally speaking, the half-German half-It...
A Pressman’s Progress
5 min read
THE STRAITS ECHO WAS Tan Thean Peng’s first employer. He joined as a reporter in 1978 after finishing his A-levels at St Xavier’s Institution only t...
Our Economist At The UN
7 min read
I first met Jomo KS in late 2004. This was also in Singapore, just after I had relocated back to the region from Europe. Having lived almost three decades on th...