August 2011 - Penang Monthly

Household Debt in Malaysia – Is It Sustainable?

7 min read

ONE IMPORTANT LESSON from the financial crisis of 2007–2009 is that economic stability and financial fragility are not only influenced by consumer price...

UTARA –Still Zealous After All These Years

7 min read

IT HAS NO MANIFESTO, no annual subscriptions (initially RM400 fee with 15% from the proceeds of sales of works going to the group), no fixed meeting place or fi...

Pricing The Homemaker

5 min read

TWO-THIRDS OF economic wealth is generated by human capital; and the catalyst in this staggering equation lies in the process of parenting. More interesting, a...

Malay Journalism Before The War

5 min read

Zainal-Abidin B. Ahmad (1895–1973) a.k.a Za’ba was a writer and teacher. A native of Negeri Sembilan, he was the first Malay to pass the Senior Camb...

The Face of A Movement

3 min read

AMONG ALL THE photographs taken during the Bersih 2.0 rally, one stands out. In it, a petite grey-haired lady clad in a yellow T-shirt is seen standing in fro...

Bersih 2.0 A Desire For Democracy

9 min read

THOESE WHO PARTICIPATED IN, or followed developments leading to the gathering organised by Bersih 2.0 on July 9, 2011 must have come out of it with mixed feelin...

Keep Solid Waste Local

6 min read

ON A MALAYSIAN online directory listing, Alam Flora Sdn Bhd’s description of itself reads: “We’ve been entrusted by the Government to manage t...

Addressing The Housing Issue

6 min read

Ong Ee LynnDEMAND FOR HIGH-END property in Penang has been robust and finding new houses or apartments on the island in the RM250,000–RM350,000 rang...

Clarifying The Role of Politicians in Development Control

5 min read

RECENTLY, residents of Taman Desaria on Penang Island went to the press to complain that the developer of a housing project that was under appeal in the Appeals...

A Vertical Road to George Town

7 min read

Akram Khan in a contemplative mood. Laurent ZieglerCould you briefly explain the creative process for “Vertical Road”?Akram Khan: When you f...

A Pressman’s Progress

5 min read

THE STRAITS ECHO WAS Tan Thean Peng’s first employer. He joined as a reporter in 1978 after finishing his A-levels at St Xavier’s Institution only t...

Making A City Liveable The Secret Is Economic Growth From Below

17 min read

The fuss about economic growth and citiesAccording to the Economic Intelligence Unit of The Economist, Vancouver topped the World’s Most Liveable Citi...