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...
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.
Welcoming The Old and Disabled to Penang
7 min read
For the distant traveler, Penang is unique to the region. It is not like Phuket or Pulau Perhentian where sun, surf and sea are the attractions, or like Kuala Lumpur or Singapore, where urban life pulsates late into the night. Penang is somewhere in-between.
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
Malaysia’s best-known poet has been raising the hackles of the establishment for over four decades with his outspoken work. Politicians find Cecil Rajendra subversive, academics believe he is a “propagandist troublemaker”, and the legal fraternity scathingly refers to him as a “part-time” lawyer.
Suffolk House-keeping
13 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.
Caught in the Net: The Malaysian Seafood Industry Waits In Vain
7 min read
The Malaysian seafood industry is widely recognised as world-class, with exports valued at RM2.5bil in 2007. However, the situation changed suddenly when Malaysian authorities decided on a self-imposed ban on exports to the EU.
Thinking of Investing in Properties?
5 min read
But is investing in property all that rewarding relative to risks and hidden costs? One has to ask if there is really a boom and bust phenomenon in the properties market.
How industrial is Penang?
5 min read
Since the 1970s, Penang has seen itself as an industrial centre for the country. What are the jobs they create, and how many? And do our industries differ in significant ways from those found in other parts of the country?
Penang’s Success is Malaysia’s Success
12 min read
In an interview with Penang Economic Monthly, Invest Penang’s executive committee chairman, Datuk Lee Kah Choon, elaborates on the organisation’s growing role and how it now offers existing and potential investors value-added services.
Capital Movements and Penang’s Manufacturing Sector
11 min read
Business news in the past few months has highlighted concerns about capital flight, but the direction of capital movement being experienced has been taken into account, as a contingency, as part of a monetary policy designed and adopted by Bank Negara Malaysia.
Placing Penang in Asia
3 min read
Penang has gone from being one of Asia’s most important metropolises to being an increasingly insignificant part of Malaysia. In that, it painfully reflects the fate of the country’s politics.
Penang blueprint
2 min read
THE MALAYSIAN ECONOMY is at a crossroads; it has stopped being a high growth economy and is no longer a low-cost centre. Furthermore, the global economy is a very different creature compared to what it was just two years ago, before the financial crisis shook the world.
Explore column