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.

817 posts

My Oh My George Town! Public spaces need publicity – and polish

8 min read

Much emphasis is placed on George Town’s historic buildings. Their architectural styles, unique features and building techniques are the subject of many...

Applause for the Penang budget model

5 min read

Regina Frey, head of the Gender Bureau, Berlin, Germany.The “People Oriented Model” of Gender Responsive Participatory Budgeting (GRPB), conce...

Heritage kept right

8 min read

On July 7, 2008 George Town was listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site. Since then, things in the city have became busier, louder, artsier and, to the chagrin o...

The numbers on human trafficking

6 min read

Human trafficking is a form of modern slavery. It is a serious crime and a grave violation of human rights. Nonetheless, there are thousands of men, women and...

Gentrification-but with the right twist

4 min read

The old Hin Bus Depot on Jalan Gurdwara may have lost many of its walls and part of its roof, but this has only served to turn it into one of the most atmospher...

For whom Malaysia’s highways toll

8 min read

Malaysia has come a long way since its rst tolled expressway or highway, the 33km Tanjung Malim-Slim River route (then known as Federal Route 1) was completed i...

Why such fear of unity?

5 min read

Negara-ku is a movement that, among other things, aims to promote unity, peace and harmony, and oppose racism, hatred, extremism and violence. It wants to resto...

Making federalism REAL

17 min read

Malaysia Day celebrations.Many West Malaysians will find it mind-boggling for Malaysians one day to celebrate three national days: August 31 as Merdeka Da...

Leaning on no man

6 min read

What is a “woman”? Is there an adequate answer in the first place? There is a somewhat belittling definition: Tota mulier in utero – “a...

No easy task to educate

6 min read

Nothing could have prepared me for school. If I thought having a degree from a US college and a job at a big consulting firm in the city were enough, I was wron...

South China Sea: What’s at stake?

5 min read

With the discovery of oil in Sarawak in 1910, the foundation of Malaysia’s oil and gas industry was laid and changed its economy forever. Mainly located i...

Eight bountiful acres

4 min read

The way to 8 Acres was very fruitful, pun intended. In the car with friends and colleagues, we made a brief stop along the trunk road for some nangka. Each frui...