January 2018 - Penang Monthly

Penang – A Rice Bowl State under Threat?

6 min read

Seberang Perai has undergone much urbanisation over the last decade. This has led to concerns over land use: warehouses, industrial plants and housing have risen up in the municipality’s landscape, replacing its sprawling paddy fields.

by Stephanie Kee

Green is the Agenda!

7 min read

The Penang Green Council (PGC) and Penang Institute mooted the Penang Green Agenda (PGA), a two-year policy-planning project aimed at formulating strategies and building resilient communities in Penang to meet and adapt to future environmental challenges by 2030.

by Chuah Sue Ann

Penang Economic Indicators

2 min read

The economic performance of Malaysia and Penang has been strong for past six years, with an average annual growth of 5%. Penang’s gross domestic product (GDP) and GDP per capita were higher than the national figures, which is a good sign.

by Ng Peng Zui

Ng Peng Zui

Malaysia’s GDP Growth Masks a Dark Truth

5 min read

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have increased their projection of Malaysia’s GDP growth this year to 5.2% and 4.8% respectively. This is due to the unexpected GDP surge of 5.7% in the first half of 2017.

by Joshua Woo Sze Zeng

The More the Money, the More the Taxes

8 min read

Penang Monthly charts the sources of federal government revenue. Over the last 45 years, government revenue has registered impressive annual growth rates: in 1970 it hit RM2.4bil; by 2015, it had exceeded RM219bil.

by Our Economist

Our Economist

Penang’s Aquaculture Sector Does Swimmingly Well

6 min read

The highly profitable aquaculture industry not only nets in millions of ringgit, it also creates employment and business opportunities for Penang’s population.

by Negin Vaghefi

Preparing for Industry 4.0

5 min read

What is Industry 4.0? At a very high level, it is about the integration of cyber-physical systems (CPS) and the Internet of Things (IoT) to enhance the productivity, efficiency and flexibility of production processes. It is the pursuit of “smart factory” capabilities.

by Stuart Lim

Stuart Lim

Embracing A.I.

9 min read

According to the World Bank, Malaysia’s economic growth will continue at a moderate pace over the next two years. This goes together with the bank’s expectation of lower capital expenditure growth in Malaysia.

by Timothy Choy & Ng Peng Zui & Tim Niklas Schoepp

Timothy Choy Ng Peng Zui

Painting for Peace

7 min read

During end November-early December 2017, Myanmar’s International Watercolor Society (IWS) set about a trial run for its 2019 fully international programme of a global watercolour phenomenon which saw the biggest gathering of artists practising watercolour in the name of peace and art.

by Ooi Kok Chuen

Capturing Vanishing Worlds

5 min read

Jimmy Nelson’s job is no walk in the park: constantly gallivanting in jungle thickets around the world, he leaves his family of four in Amsterdam, where they reside, and spends up to nine months every year in search of forlorn cultures.

by Marco Ferrarese

A Short and Splendid Hike

5 min read

Located just opposite the soaring peaks of the greater Penang Hill range, Bukit Hijau sits on a lesser ridge that runs between the residential township of Island Park and Bukit Jambul, rising up to its highest point at the 418m Bukit Kukus peak, just behind Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).

by Rexy Prakash Chacko

Magic in the Malay World

5 min read

The difference between divination and the divine is a fine one. South-East Asia is a region with strong beliefs in the spirit world, blending modern rationality and traditional knowledge.

by Izzuddin Ramli