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

Exporting grey matter: What is the brain drain costing us?

15 min read

As of 2013, 308,833 high-skilled Malaysians are working abroad1.The World Bank defines the brain drain population as those who are 25 years old and above, hol...

Mustafa Akyol: A Muslim case for liberty

10 min read

“Liberalism is not the fundamentals of a religion but a political idea of how a government should conduct itself,” says Mustafa Akyol, a prominent...

Bitcoin – Currency with a future or just a fad?

7 min read

Bitcoin, unlike traditional currencies, is highly decentralised and functions without government regulation or central banks, underpinned by a peer-to-peer comp...

Learning centre named after late Karpal Singh

2 min read

Learning centre named after late Karpal SinghThe Penang state government has named its newly launched Penang Learning Centre in memory of the late Bukit Gelugor...

Who’s the Hero– Tuah or Jebat?

5 min read

Who was right – Hang Tuah or Hang Jebat? Which one is the true hero?This was a question posed to a journalist when he was called to the police headquart...

Talk about elections being local!

4 min read

It all started with some trees.One morning, the residents of Taman Weng Lock woke up to see some old shady trees in their neighbourhood being chopped down. No...

Social entrepreneurs: Just who are they?

6 min read

Social entrepreneurship has been likened to double or triple-bottomline business operations, doublebottom- line because these combine profit-making with a socia...

Quick guide to a green life

3 min read

A lot of us want to do something to help the environment. Maybe we’re concerned about what’s in our food, toiletries or cosmetics. Malaysians, as re...

Penang News

2 min read

4,000 high income jobs for Penang in three yearsThe Penang state government plans to turn Bayan Baru into an international outsourcing hub to attract more sha...

An analysis of Penang

3 min read

 Penang is geographically divided into two sections, Penang Island and Seberang Perai (SP). The two sections are then further subdivided into five dist...

Exaggerating the urban-rural divide is no help

4 min read

It’s been two months since the byelection in Teluk Intan, a semi-urban seat in Perak, dealt the opposition Pakatan alliance a shock defeat. It had not rea...

It begins with the narrative...

7 min read

When Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak invented the phrase "human rights-ism" in May to denounce humanism, secularism and liberalism as ideological thre...