The Delightful Doors at Rifle Range
2 min read
THE RIFLE RANGE FLATS, built in 1969 as Penang’s first low-cost flats, consist of nine blocks of 17-storey buildings, housing a total of 3,888 units. They stand...
January 2026
Our January issue explores how artificial intelligence is redefining work, security and everyday life, from the promises of automation and digital finance to the ethical questions it raises about creativity, ownership and the future of human thinking.
A Subtly Empowering Tale of a Woman Between Worlds
3 min read
Note: This review may contain spoilers.
A Chance to Relive the World of Chinese Opera in Penang
4 min read
WHAT WAS ONCE a familiar sight in Penang has now become a hidden treasure. Despite the apparent decline of Chinese opera, the Leong family has managed to preser...
Loving Tea - From Bud to Cup
5 min read
I LOOKED UP from my laptop screen, tearing my eyes from the pixels drumming on my corneas, reached for my cup of Ching Dragonwell green tea (more commonly known...
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Are You Reading This?
10 min read
In two studies published in 2006 and 2009, Mar et al. found that fiction readers empathise with people, understand them and can see the world from another person’s perspective better.
What Bliss A Hidden Bookstore Brings
5 min read
“BOOKSTORES ARE LONELY FORTS, spilling light onto the sidewalk. They civilise their neighbourhoods,” said John Updike. The truth is, they are even lonelier thes...
The Benevolent Madam Tan Say Seang: Penang philanthropist par excellence
9 min read
ON SATURDAY, 14 December 1907, at 12.30pm, the sentry on duty at the police station in the rustic village of Tanjung Tokong “noticed that one of the buildings i...
Penang Nyonya Recipes: Preserving Our Important Heritage
4 min read
A collection of old recipes accumulated over time will provide a record of changing tastes with regard to Penang Nyonya cuisine, and we would be able to recreate the “old and traditional taste” (what Hokkiens call kochabi) from recipes retrieved from the repository.
Individuals in Business with Books
5 min read
THEY ARE THE caretakers of worlds. As most bookshops (especially chains and distributors) move online, indie ones stand as a triumphant testament that bookshops...
Books Are the Preferred Medium: Even for the Gods
3 min read
“BEST PRACTICES” is quite a clever term. I had trouble accepting it at first, trained to be relativistic as I am by the social sciences. I had to ask questions...
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Exploring New Territory at the 2023 George Town Literary Festival
4 min read
THE GEORGE TOWN LITERARY FESTIVAL (GTLF) will be held this year from 23 to 26 November. A festival thoughtfully curated each time to bring book lovers together,...
Exposing the Extraordinary in the Ordinary
5 min read
A Play Review: Material Woman in the Beauty World. Written by Leow Puay Tin, directed by Tung Jit Yang, performed by Ling Tang. Featured as part of the George Town Festival 2023.
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