Editorial - Penang Monthly (Page 6)

Is Capitalism without Socialism Sustainable?

2 min read

The fall of the Berlin Wall marked the end of the communist experiment, and to the extent that the experiment was an application of Marxist ideas about class...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Did Merdeka Liberate or Create Malaya?

2 min read

Sixty years may have passed since Merdeka Day, but its historical significance remains something we continue to debate.Did Malaya fight to free itself from...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

One Thing is Certain – Expect More Amendments to the Constitution

3 min read

As with all agreements, consensus and contracts, a Constitution is a hunt for a balance – and a dynamic one at that – between the expressing on on...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

The Primacy of Political Economy in Asia

3 min read

It’s a complicated subject, this thing we call Economics. I don’t always know what it means.I remember once talking to Robert Kuok about it. His...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Ecotourism – Conduit to a New Consciousness?

3 min read

Ecotourism sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?We do know that tourism brings benefits to a place, but we cannot deny the larger truth of what I like...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

The Hokkien Vernacular

3 min read

In lieu of a normal editorial, and in keeping with this month’s cover story being about Penang Hokkien, I am providing here in a somewhat truncated form...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

On Sexism, Racism, Ageism and other Bigotries

3 min read

A racist act is the conscious effort by one group identity to effectively reduce the social status and the security, the rights and the privileges, and the in...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

My Smartphone is My Sword

3 min read

Culture, if you ask me, is the joint expression of the interpersonal behaviours of a particular society over time. Within that, we find comfort and orientation...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Learning Mutual Respect May Be Easier Than We Think

3 min read

How does one show respect? How does one show tolerance? How does one show acceptance? These are important questions to answer when the ethnic and religi...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Should We Beware Humanity’s Collective Capacity Reaching Critical Mass?

2 min read

Man’s discoveries and inventions revolutionise him. That is a truismThe conquest of fire altered how and what we eat; the invention of the wheel chang...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Stay Young, Stay Spontaneous

2 min read

Much of youth is definitely wasted on the young, and this is because the young as a rule are not aware enough of what it means to be old.They are not burdened...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Capitalism is the Exercise of the Power of Excess

3 min read

This morning (June 20, 2016), my 12-year-old daughter asked me “what is Capitalism?”Since the Cold War is over, this is actually a harder question...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng