January 2022 - Penang Monthly

What Are the Tropics If Not Naturally Diverse?

10 min read

DESCRIPTIONS OF NATURE in the tropics once employed expressions such as luxuriant, verdant or lush. As technical terminology became the vogue, our ability to im...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Penang’s Biodiversity in Numbers

3 min read

Biosphere ReservesON SEPTEMBER 15, 2021, Penang Hill was designated a Biosphere Reserve (BR) under Unesco’s Man and the Biosphere Programme. This is the state’s...

by Ng Kar Yong & Yap Jo-yee

Ng Kar Yong

Datuk Seri Lim Chong Keat – Relentless Champion of Penang’s Botanical Heritage

5 min read

DATUK SERI LIM Chong Keat, renown retired architectcum- urban designer, was involved in the design and construction of the Kompleks Tunku Abdul Rahman (or KOMTA...

by Ong Siou Woon

Events

3 min read

EXHIBITIONLooking for Meaningful Connection is a solo exhibition by Queen Lee, a Penang-born visual artist. The introspective exhibition features meditative wat...

by Penang Monthly

Penang’s Gorgeous Mangrove Ecosystems under Threat

5 min read

THE COASTLINE HEADING towards Balik Pulau is fortunately lined with mangroves. This salt-tolerant plant species described as halophytes, thrives in Penang's int...

by Dr. Shuhaida Shuib (School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia)

Langurs: Primates on the Brink of Extinction

4 min read

ART CURATION IS not always only about aesthetic sense. Every now and then, mere visual appreciation is merged with, even submerged in, other much more pressing...

by Regina Hoo

Mushrooms! Photo Evidence of Penang’s Biodiversity

4 min read

BEFORE I STARTED hiking during the lockdowns, I had only ever thought of mushrooms as those found in supermarkets, either fresh or dried. But they are now my fa...

by Ooi Geok Ling

Penang’s Rich Nature is Free for All to Perceive – and Preserve

5 min read

MODERN HUMANS ARE very guilty of taking Mother Nature and her offerings of ecosystem services for granted. Industrialisation and urbanisation, despite having gi...

by Dr. Ng Shin Wei & Allen Tan

Dr. Ng Shin Wei

Using USM as a Garden for Studying Nature

3 min read

UNIVERSITI SAINS MALAYSIA (USM) introduced in 2001-2002 the concept of "University in the Garden" to explore the mutual cohabitation between humans and the camp...

by Noor Adelyna Mohammed Akib (Centre for Global Sustainability Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia)

Noor Adelyna Mohammed Akib (Centre for Global Sustainability Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia)

The Penang Botanic Gardens – A Green Gem Like No Other

4 min read

FOR NORMAL VISITORS to Penang, the Botanic Gardens, fondly called the Waterfall Gardens, does not rank high on their list of must-visit places. But this treasur...

by Prof. Dato' Dr. Zulfigar Yasin

Middle Bank: A Marine Sanctuary to Enrich the Future

5 min read

I CHANCED UPON an old British map of Penang from 1884 – it was a nautical chart of the sea. The Island's shoreline then resembled an irregular square which over...

by Prof. Dato' Dr. Zulfigar Yasin

Aquaculture: The Good, the Bad and the Restorative

3 min read

THE CENTRE FOR Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS) at Universiti Sains Malaysia is deep in research cultivating bivalves and seaweeds as natural bio-remediators...

by Annette Jaya Ram & Prof. Dato’ Dr. Aileen Tan & Dr. Abe Woo Sau Pinn

Annette Jaya Ram