Window Into History - Penang Monthly

From Free Port to Modern Economy. Economic Development and Social Change in Penang, 1969 to 1990

7 min read

Published by Penang Institute and ISEAS (Singapore) 2019Introduction (Abridged)WHILE Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu (1919-2010) was undoubtedly a major actor in the early...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

What Are the Tropics If Not Naturally Diverse?

10 min read

DESCRIPTIONS OF NATURE in the tropics once employed expressions such as luxuriant, verdant or lush. As technical terminology became the vogue, our ability to im...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

A Bungalow on the Hill

6 min read

Sanatorium. Retreat. Home. The bungalows up on the Hill played different roles throughout Penang’s history. The first structures to appear on top of Penang Hill were almost certainly a flagstaff for signalling the arrival of shipping, together with a small building to house a military detachment.

by Mike Gibby

The day George Town grew up

4 min read

IT IS THE MORNING OF the New Year. The face of the Victoria Memorial Clock Tower blocking the rising sun to the east shows the time to be 8.50.Here, on the Es...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

The enchanting hill of early Penang

4 min read

Nahuijs was the first Dutch Resident for Suracarta and Yogjakarta, holding that office from 1816 until 1822 when he retired from office. While making his way...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Memories of Penang Hill

4 min read

Leith (1775–1842) was the Governor of Prince of Wales Island from 1800 to 1803. Immediately after he took up this position, he successfully negotiated with the Sultan of Queddah (Kedah) for a strip of land on the peninsula to be added to the jurisdiction of the island.

by Penang Monthly

Marking George Town

2 min read

Labourers tasked with road repair in Transfer Road, back in the day. (Picture extracted from Penang Postcard Collection 1899–1930s by Khoo Salma Nasutio...

by Penang Monthly

Penang On The Brink of War,1821

4 min read

The Rajah of Ligor sent a hundred war perahus into Penang harbour, and with enemies at the gate, the first ever volunteer corps in Penang was formed by its inha...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Kedah Hoped For The Return of Province Wellesley in 1957

1 min read

How the independent Federation of Malaysia would incorporate its various parts was not a given thing, and the issues up for negotiation in 1956–1957 wer...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Malay Journalism Before The War

5 min read

Zainal-Abidin B. Ahmad (1895–1973) a.k.a Za’ba was a writer and teacher. A native of Negeri Sembilan, he was the first Malay to pass the Senior Camb...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

The Spice Island of Penang, 1834

5 min read

PENANG HAS been a spice island from the period nearly of its first settlement. Pepper engrossed the consideration of capitalists for many years, and until...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Adult Suffrage Comes to Penang and Malaysia, 1951

5 min read

Voter registration under way.The Report on the Introduction of Elections in the Municipality of George Town, Penang (Kuala Lumpur: Government Press, 1951)...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng