January 2026

Budget 2024, themed "Economic Reform, Empowering People", charts Malaysia’s largest-ever fiscal plan at RM393.8bil. It emphasises fiscal consolidation, targeted subsidies, revenue diversification, and growth through human capital, digitalisation and SME support.

A survey conducted by the Ministry of Health in Malaysia shows that the national prevalence of depression in Malaysian adults is 2.3%—this translates to about half a million people. Men are generally less likely to seek help compared to women, and tend less to talk about their emotional distress.

What I discovered is that traditional performing arts in Malaysia offer more than just music, dance, intricate costumes and kenduri (ritual offerings), but also poetry—or rather “spoken poetry” in the form of doa, mantra, incantations and jampi.

IN THE ANNALS of modern Penang are a number of exceptional legacies left behind by the late Tun Dr. Lim Chong Eu, such as the Bayan Lepas Free Trade Industrial...

What happens when a mother who cannot cook becomes a grandmother? What culinary heritage is there to pass down to the next generation?

One in every five children under five, and one in every six teens in Malaysia is stunted. Malaysian teenagers are 6cm to 7cm shorter than WHO’s standard height reference for adolescents between 10 and 17 years old, and this is not due to genetic predisposition.

HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE is an often-overlooked Penang hawker delight among its celebrated cousins like Char Koay Teow and Laksa. Chicken rice can be found throug...