Flyers from the Golden Age of Cinema
4 min read
THE GOLDEN AGE of Malaysian Cinema, spanning the 1950s to the 1970s, saw moviegoers lining up to catch the latest releases. For more popular shows, scalpers wou...
--.jpg)
November 2025
This November, Penang Monthly explores language, place and memory. As GTLF returns, we highlight Penang’s multilingual streets and the dialects that keep local history alive.
Hassan Muthalib: A Life Lived in Drawings, Animations and Love of Visual Language
15 min read
HE IS THE Father of Malaysian Animation, a title bestowed on him by former Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak. He was also a recipient of the 2018 Merdeka Award u...
.jpg)
Vulnerable and Exposed: Saw Teong Hin on the Travails of Filmmaking
5 min read
WHEN SAW TEONG HIN started his filmmaking career in KL, he began at the bottom rung. But to even get a foot in, he had to leaf through the Yellow Pages from A t...
Raging Against the Machine: Reflections on Pendatang, Abang Adik and Maryam Pagi Ke Malam
5 min read
What do (a) a family living in a speculative, segregated Malaysia; (b) two brothers squeezed into a Pudu flat and; (c) a woman of royalty who owns an art gallery, all have in common?
Do Malaysian Films Have a Future?
8 min read
Badrul Hisham Ismail is the director and screenwriter of Maryam Pagi Ke Malam, a 2023 film about a Muslim woman’s struggles with religious bureaucracy and socie...
The Creative Industries Require More Organic Solidarity and Less Mechanical Solidarity
3 min read
IF YOU WISH to enhance material production, be this of electronic chips, fish and chips, or arts and crafts, the contemporary wisdom today is to aim for the est...
Flames of Fortune: The Chneah Hoay Ceremony at Penang’s Oldest Chinese Temple
4 min read
ON THE EVENING of 23 February, my friend—a heritage enthusiast from Penang Heritage Trust (PHT), Ganesh Kolandaveloo—and I went to see the venerable Chneah Hoay...
Events in May
4 min read
RUNWhether you’re an experienced runner or just starting out, the Raya Run 2024 is perfect for people of all ages and fitness levels. With a scenic route and pl...
Art Exhibition Extraordinaire at the Ng Fook Temple
4 min read
CHINESE TEMPLES IN Penang serve as a place for worship, for ancestral prayers and for celebrations, such as the Mooncake Festival and Dragon Boat Festival. Howe...
Embracing the Joy of Having Toys
5 min read
AS KIDS NOWADAYS gravitate towards tablets and gadgets, the toy market is being kept afloat mostly by adults. According to data from NPD Group, a huge number of...
A Pageant to Highlight Beauty’s Depth
4 min read
With a growing focus on intelligence and personal well-being, Malaysian beauty pageants are contesting against traditional notions of beauty.
Explore column