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.

819 posts

Penang's economic fate: A tale of three cities

9 min read

CHARLES DICKENS ASIDE, there was another A Tale of Two Cities told by Alwyn Young, about economic growth in Singapore and Hong Kong. They are two of four Asian...

Climbing the value chain

3 min read

WE NEED to move up the value chain to remain competitive; that much bears repeating. The urgency to distance ourselves from the sprouting economies of labour-in...

Some peace in store

4 min read

AT 52, Mrs Patsy Gooi has led a full life. Married with three grown children, she had everything she wanted. Or so she thought.In 2009, during the economic do...

Making green policies sustainable

5 min read

MUCH MORE could and should have been accomplished at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. The Copenhagen Accord that was finally signed b...

From 'Malay Town' to Acheen Street (Lebuh Acheh)

8 min read

ON HIS ARRIVAL in 1786, Captain Francis Light, the founder of the British trading post on Penang Island, laid out the original grid of George Town as we know it...

Remember the city status of George Town

5 min read

Daniel LeeACCORDING TO the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, there are 12 cities in Malaysia. They are Alor Setar, Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Ja...

Think globally, act locally. A blueprint for Penang's transformation

4 min read

Kwang Hua Yit PohWHAT IS HEARTBREAKING about the current economic crisis, caused by the collapse of key financial institutions in the West, is that the cu...

Meeting a legend that grows and grows

12 min read

I had a very long chat with your father, Desmond, a couple of days ago. I was hoping to find out what he considers to be the special elements that make Nicol Da...

Parenting Penang's pride

17 min read

Pictured : Nical David’s first racket, assembled out of broken racket parts.There is a mystery about world champions that stems from the inability o...

Malaysia’s chance for some serious soul-searching

3 min read

Sixty odd years after Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad first deliberated on politics as a student and almost three decades after he assumed the office of the Prime Minis...

The short but significant story of the Khean Guan Insurance Company

3 min read

In 1885, the Chinese-owned Khean Guan Insurance Company was established in Penang. This was in response to the growing number of Western insurance companies...

On-the-job training critical to present-day education

3 min read

In this day and age, education is a requirement for success. Gone are the days when informal apprenticeship programmes were the route of choice for school-lea...