The ringgit and sen of festivals
11 min read
Malaysia enjoys a plethora of annual religious and ethnic festivities, thanks to its multicultural population. From Hari Raya Aidilfitri to Chinese New Year and...
A city’s status and its civil society
12 min read
It’s not easy getting a Unesco listing. Apart from the rigorous assessment criteria, the nomination process can be highly political – tourist income...
The Unity Fetish
10 min read
Boy in Kelantan. Collective identities are a demand from without, while individual identity is a personally lived experience.The collective individualMa...
Local elections as the foundation of democracy Part I: The Athi Nahappan Report revisited
8 min read
Penang in the 1960s. The newly formed Alliance central government had found it increasingly difficult to govern and achieve its version of national unity beca...
The Athi Nahappan Report revisited Part 2: Local elections are part of a larger reform agenda
13 min read
The most cited recommendation of the Athi Nahappan Royal Commission of Enquiry must be the restoration of local government elections. Today, half a century late...
Crisis ahead for private higher education – and solutions
13 min read
Graduating students of the Penang Medical College (PMC). Private university enrolment is expected to grow at 5.6% per annum and overtake the public sector in...
Butterworth beckons A bright future awaits East Penang
13 min read
It lies just 3km across the North Channel from George Town, but for most islandside Penangites, Butterworth is a world away.Seemingly limp and lifeless, the m...
Cautiously but surely, Penang's growth continues
8 min read
Penang’s economy is dependent on national and global economic conditions; the US economic recovery, lower oil prices, the Asean Economic Community (AEC) a...
Putting Pulau Tikus on the map
15 min read
Affluent. Cosmopolitan. Convenient. These are words that are often used to describe Pulau Tikus, a township in Penang that is pretty much located in the middle...
Is Penang’s tourism on the right track?
15 min read
The messages started flying on social media in early July. The word was that some 4,000 tourists from China were arriving for a company holiday in Penang &ndash...
Education – Ever The Political Victim
12 min read
Every political crisis inevitably claims its share of casualties. Normally, those who fall on the wrong side in the corridors of power will find their careers c...
TPPA – The Winners and the Losers
14 min read
The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) is a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) that involves 12 Pacific Rim countries: Singapore, Brunei, New Zeal...