Penang Monthly

Penang Monthly, by Penang Institute, is the voice of Penang, offering insights on its people, politics, economy, culture, and society, with a focus on local and national issues for curious Malaysians.

835 posts

New housing policies to help Penangites cope

8 min read

The Penang state government has introduced a range of housing policy interventions which came into force on February 1, 2014. These are intended to protect exis...

PLAC – where the poor can seek justice

13 min read

The first time I met Teh Chin Lee, I noted that he wasn’t like most clients who typically marched into the office. He didn’t have the kind of swagge...

Up close with Lat

6 min read

"We shouldn’t use the word 'kampung' as a term that reflects backwardness – we are proud kampung people! We were born in the kampung, but we can str...

A chat with Tan Twan Eng

7 min read

It was in early December last year when we met the award-winning writer of The Gift of Rain and The Garden of Evening Mists, Tan Twan Eng, who...

Resurrecting Sungai Pinang

4 min read

Penangites are a lucky lot. They have hills, beaches and rivers within a short travelling distance from residential areas. And the early settlers of the island...

People before profit

4 min read

Is it possible to turn a profit while running a business focused on people? To marry profit and passion? Can you truly have it all? Sasibai Kimis thinks it is p...

A festival for all the senses

3 min read

Chef and cookbook author Pearly Kee hosting a tour of Pulau Tikus market.Penang’s In-Between Art Festival – so called because it literally tak...

Between light and darkness

7 min read

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (feature film, 2010).Throughout the interview, Apichatpong Weerasethakul is soft-spoken and down to earth; I a...

Malaysia’s energy generat ion and usage

5 min read

Malaysia’s national grid operates as such: customers are connected with power from hydroelectric and thermal plants through a network system made up of tr...

Tokyo trippin’

5 min read

Standing on a curb on an overcast day in Tokyo, I was surprised at how excited I was while waiting for the lights to change at the (in)famous Shibuya scramble c...

The gay side of Singapore

4 min read

“If you are interested, I will bring you around,” my gay Singaporean friend told me. It sounded like an open invitation for something naughty. I gra...

Bandung’s Creative City image grows stronger

5 min read

I still remember vividly arriving in Bandung in the early 2000s, when I was just starting university. It was night time when I passed by Dago Street, which wa...