Rachel Yeoh

is a former journalist who traded her on-the-go job for a life behind the desk. For the sake of work-life balance, she participates in Penang's performing arts scene after hours.

33 posts

FREPENCA: A History of Innovative Industrial Support Measures

6 min read

PENANG’S industrialisation started when Bayan Lepas, the “rice bowl” of the island, was turned into a Free Industrial Zone (FIZ) in 1972. This first free-trade...

The Penang Lights Choir: Nothing Like Eating and Singing to Dissolve Cultural Differences

4 min read

CHATTERING GUESTS WERE silenced by the pounding of the E Major chord on the grand piano, signalling rehearsal time. It was a routine every Thursday night in pre...

How We Now Holiday, Post-Covid-19

6 min read

TRAVELLERS ARE SEEING green after the Covid-19 pandemic ‒ no, not green with envy, but in the literal sense with nature. When international borders shut after t...

Revealing Complexities in the Practice of Faith in Malaysia

3 min read

Note: This book review contains spoilersFEAR. FATE. FAITH. Depending on your religious or cultural point of view, The Accidental Malay by Karina Robles Bahrin w...

Melati Sarawak Debuts on Stage in Penang

4 min read

IT IS SAID that the first modern novel written in Sarawak, and very likely the first in Malaysia, is Melati Sarawak. Written in Jawi and self-published by Muham...

Ch'ng Huck Theng: Crafting a Future for the Arts

5 min read

ALTHOUGH THE ART market in Malaysia can be considered relatively young, Penang was a popular destination for artists to visit and sell their works, especially b...

An Ambitious Overview of Penang’s Art Scene

4 min read

THE ARTS SCENE in Penang is an ecosystem of many layers; it is a network of art makers, suppliers, platforms, non-profit and non-governmental art organisations...

Interview With Dato' Seri Paduka Maimunah Mohd Sharif: Navigating Cities and Crises Effectively

5 min read

HER WHIRLWIND TOUR to Japan, Singapore and Malaysia has brought Dato Seri Paduka Maimunah Mohd Sharif, the reelected Executive Director of the United Nations Hu...

The Future of Journalism Depends on the Ideals of the Next Generation

5 min read

Journalism, as it is promoted to eager mass communication students in university, is of noble ambition. Lecturers boast: ‘The press is the Fourth Estate in a de...