March 2010 - Penang Monthly

Malaysia’s chance for some serious soul-searching

3 min read

Sixty odd years after Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad first deliberated on politics as a student and almost three decades after he assumed the office of the Prime Minis...

The short but significant story of the Khean Guan Insurance Company

3 min read

In 1885, the Chinese-owned Khean Guan Insurance Company was established in Penang. This was in response to the growing number of Western insurance companies...

Sculpturing Penang’s public spaces

11 min read

Kikuchi Mitsuo standing next to his sculpture, Under a Penang Sky.A squat oval marble sculpture on a circular pedestal sits forlornly at the edge of the...

On-the-job training critical to present-day education

3 min read

In this day and age, education is a requirement for success. Gone are the days when informal apprenticeship programmes were the route of choice for school-lea...

Giving it everything

5 min read

According to 20something Chee Beng Kean, “There’s a void in the market in terms of computer knowledge. The usual practice for it services companie...

Cat on the prowl

5 min read

Transparency and accountability were key themes in the electoral campaign of opposition parties two years ago. At that time, Barisan Nasional governments at s...

Welcoming the old and disabled to Penang

7 min read

With the recent conferment of Unesco World Heritage City status, new opportunities are available for Penang to become an attraction for older visitors and p...

Must progress be ugly?

4 min read

It seems to me that in the last couple of decades, Penang, especially George Town, has been allowed to develop haphazardly. If I have to use one word to describ...

Living the poem

7 min read

Sitting along a busy Penang street and talking to Cecil Rajendra is taking a serious toll on my self-restraint. It’s hot, noisy and the cold beer in his...

Suffolk House-keeping

6 min read

Next to the Methodist Boys School stands what is destined to be one of Penang’s most renowned restored heritage buildings, Suffolk House. So named because...

Caught in the net The Malaysian seafood industry waits in vain

7 min read

Ch’ng Chin Hooi, chairman of the MFFPA.CH’NG CHIN HOOI, chairman of the Malaysian Frozen Food Processors Association (MFFPA) looked tired du...

Thinking of investing in properties?

5 min read

HAVE WE BEEN MISSING OUT? This is often asked in relation to where we should park our money, after hearing stories about windfalls from property gains. The re...