The Hills ‘r’ Us
3 min read
Natural resources are always good to have. If rightly used, they are the basis not only for an economy’s path of growth, but also for its international...
Literary festivals – More momentous than you may imagine
3 min read
Now when Penang is holding its George Town Literary Festival again – and I have no doubt that it will be an even greater success than before – let...
Penang as entry point for visitors to Malaysia
3 min read
Tourism has been vital to Penang for decades, but a competent history of it has yet to be written to give due credit to the key actors involved, to describe t...
Speaking of Pulau Tikus...
3 min read
Pulau Tikus. The name always sounded exotic to the ears of a boy growing up in the general area of Ayer Itam (yes, not Air Itam), Reservoir Gardens and Rifle...
The UAE passes an anti-discriminatory law worth importing
3 min read
I was in Abu Dhabi recently for the first time. The UAE is a strange land; its citizens make up only 15% of the whole population. The rest are foreigners of o...
An intercontinental trip a year keeps the psychiatrist away
3 min read
We take global communication as a matter of course today. Not long ago, messages had to be written on physical media to arrive only after being carr...
Noses don’t grow back
3 min read
It is very sad that the state of Penang is being ignored in the 11th Malaysia Plan (2016-2020). None of the infrastructure projects the Penang government pres...
Penang Monthly goes free in June
3 min read
Spread the good news!Penang Monthly will be a free magazine from June 2015 onwards. Next month, you will be able to pick up a copy at selected locations thr...
Let’s be cosmopolitan and leave multi-ethnicity behind
2 min read
It is fascinating how seemingly innocuous words actually are not. Especially those that sound neutral, even ethically positive. That is why the sage never think...
Towards substantive democracy
2 min read
Democracy is a big word, and like all big words it is given to controversy and misuse.Since the magazine’s cover story this month and in April will be...
To excel is to stay curious
3 min read
This is not strange given how our brain, no matter how complex it may be, is one highly interconnected organ that never stops working. It seeks to integrate,...
Education is not only for building a common identity
2 min read
Education is a key issue in nation building; in no other country has it been more evident than in Malaysia where so much contestation since the 1950s has been...