April 2023 - Penang Monthly

Choong Kam Kow: Fusing Eastern and Western Aesthetics

6 min read

Photos of artworks provided by Choong Kam KowSEVENTY YEARS — that is how long ago Choong Kam Kow started his artistic exploration.Born in Ipoh in 1934, he began...

by Nicole Chang

Dikir-Dangdut and the Defiant Spirit of Kelantanese Women

6 min read

ROSALINDA KEPT HER head down and her eyes fixed on the floor as she walked out of the Gua Musang Lower Syariah Court in June 2014. Hot on her heels was a throng...

by Izzuddin Ramli

James Dollery Fettes of Penang Waterworks: A Life of Civil Engineering and Service (Part Two)

9 min read

DURING A MEETING on 30 April 1909, the President of the Penang Municipal Commission, James Wilson Hallifax, asked Leonard Moore Bell how long “the new engineer”...

by Eugene Quah

CPO Shuhaily Zain: To Lead Is to Train (Part Two)

7 min read

IN FEBRUARY 2023, Penang Monthly published the first part of an interview with Dato’ Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain, the Chief Police Officer of Penang, which was titl...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Hawkers in Passing – Personal Accounts and Short Stories on Berita Harian in the 1960s

6 min read

IN 1963, a student essay for a weekly writing competition, held by Berita Harian, dubbed the bicycle the ”economic vehicle”. The author Yeow Peng Keat contempla...

by Chin Kar Yern

Ysabel Loh: Telling Stories About Penang

7 min read

LONDON-BORN AND Penang-raised Ysabel Loh, 24, is an award-winning Malaysian actress with a degree in English and Theatre Studies and an MA in Digital Media Prod...

by Miriam Devaprasana

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...

by Rachel Yeoh

Bleisure Travel: A Highly Promising Tourism Sector for Penang

4 min read

BUSINESS AND LEISURE travel, also known as bleisure, is where a person travels for work but also takes time to enjoy the destination for leisure activities. Thi...

by Vikneswaran Nair

Expenditure On the Arts: An Overview

1 min read

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by Philip Khor

The Future Depends on the Creative Economy

11 min read

WHEN MICHELLE YEOH made history by being the first Asian woman to win an Oscar for her role in Everything, Everywhere, All at Once and triggered a nationwide wa...

by Sheryl Teoh

Creative Commute

2 min read

Compiled by Iylia De SilvaPublic transportation in Penang is often overlooked by residents who rely on personal cars - except the elderly, foreigners and perhap...

by Iylia De Silva

Forward School and PSDC in Partnership to Address Penang’s Digital Skill Shortage

3 min read

BEING A TECHNOLOGY and innovation hub, it may not be altogether a big surprise that Penang is having to deal with an excessive demand for workers with digital s...

by Goh Shuan Thing