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.

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A publication of Penang Institute, Penang Monthly is the voice of Penang - an inspiring read for the curious Malaysian, featuring stories about the people, ideas, and issues shaping the state's well-being. Sign up for a free account to enjoy unlimited access to all our articles.

Digital Literacy Should Be Pursued the Way Universal Literacy Once Was

4 min read

AT ITS MOST basic level, literacy is about the ability to read and write. But reading and writing is a goal to an end. It was to get us educated. Literacy leads...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Relating Tales of Dislocated Culture

8 min read

AUTHOR SOUVANKHAM THAMMAVONGSA’S initially hesitant demeanour over Zoom belies the writing style of her debut short story collection, How to Pronounce Knife. Sh...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

An Insider’s Account of Malaysia’s Parliament 2018-2020

5 min read

BOOK REVIEW: Parliament, Unexpected: Recollections of Parliament, Politics, and Pandemic in Malaysia (Matahari Books)PARLIAMENT, UNEXPECTED: Recollections of Pa...

by Fauwaz Abdul Aziz

Dikir Barat: An Evolving Identity Marker

5 min read

A dikir barat ensemble consists of the tok jogho (lead singer), tukang karut (spontaneous verse composer), awak-awak (chorus and clappers) and musicians. It starts with the bertabuh musical prelude, followed by singing led by the tok jogho.

by Izzuddin Ramli

Euston Quah and the Virtues of Cost-Benefit Analysis

8 min read

OUR EDITOR WAS stuck in Singapore for a few weeks in 2021 during the pandemic, and took the chance to meet up with one of Penang’s many famous sons living in th...

by Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

Using Clubhouse for a Good Cause

3 min read

REMEMBER THE INVITE-ONLY social audio app, Clubhouse? It was the virtual place to be at the height of Covid in 2020, hosting a dizzying array of conversations,...

by Joel Teh

“Listeners Calling”: Radio Enters its Second Century in Malaysia

14 min read

IMAGINE BEING ON the lookout for new music in the prewar days, and you had already exhausted the collection of the local S. Moutrie and Co. Ltd., local agents o...

by William Tham

Chinese Whispers: The Literature and Politics of Nanyang Writers

8 min read

“Man is a restless creature, nomadic at heart.” Tash Aw, Map of the Invisible World.NANYANG, the “South Sea” in the Chinese imagination, is rich in stories – th...

by William Tham

PSDC: A Technical Skills Institute of Excellence

5 min read

THE 1980S IN Penang was a time of rapid economic growth. A decade earlier, then Chief Minister Lim Chong Eu had envisioned the creation of the Free Industrial Z...

by Ooi Tze Xiong

Strengthening Water Security in Penang via Self-reliance and Stakeholder Engagement

6 min read

MALAYSIA IS RICH in water resources, having 990 Billion Cubic Metres (BCM) of rainfall which translates into a surface runoff (mostly rivers) of 566 BCM. Its pe...

by Dr. Chan Ngai Weng

The Elaborate Meaning of the Indian Marriage Necklace

7 min read

JEWELLERY CAN mean many things, all the more so if placed in their traditional contexts.In the Indian tradition, the Rig Veda, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and...

by Preveena Balakrishnan

Prostitutes in Penang: A Life Often Filled with Fear and Violence

6 min read

The “princess”, was a human-trafficked victim sold to brothel houses at a tender age. These girls suffered deplorable conditions; in exchange for basic food and accommodation, they were forced into prostitution and were treated as personal belongings and slaves by the brothel-keepers.

by Dr. Kuah Li Feng

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