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A discussion on 21st century geopolitics and the centuries-long history behind it. Has global decolonisation entered its final stage? We dissect and reconnect concepts and notions on international relations and global power. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0OiVjvYf9g
By Ooi Kee Beng, in The Edge Weekly Malaysia, 22-30 August 2026. We take global trade as a given nowadays. And yet, despite countless attempts by postcolonial scholars to push the genesis of what can be properly called “global trade” as we know it today as far back in time as possible, the fact remains … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng, for The Edge Malaysia, 20-27 June 2026 TWO THINGS that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been depending upon for its slow-and-steady, all-aboard method to deliver are firstly a lack of urgency, and secondly an absence of unrelenting outside pressure. Anyone concerned about the issues the organization purports to … Continue reading
In Captains & Legends column in EZ Malaysia May 19 2026 See https://ezmalaysia.news/2026/05/19/chaptering-my-life/.
PENANG PROFILE, Penang Monthly, June 2026 AS USUAL, THIS column highlights an exciting personality from Penang, no doubt because of what they have achieved, but more importantly, to showcase their infectious passion for the state of Penang and their ability to inspire its next generation. I query Ch’ng Huck Theng, a conspicuous artist and businessman, among … Continue reading
PENANG IS FULL of inhabitants who were not born here. In fact, there is some oft-repeated “test” to decide if someone not born on the island is truly a Penangite or not. So far can the triviality over identity go. On a good day, I think of Penang as an inclusive, if ironic, entity, having a … Continue reading
By OOI KEE BENG for “Picking on the Present” in The Edge Malaysia, 22-29 May 2026 About 20 years ago, I had the pleasure of having dinner at the home of Robert Kuok and his wife Poh Lin. It was memorable for many reasons, but not least for something he said which stuck with me … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng, Penang Monthly editorial for May 2026 “SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT” makes good sense as a concept. This term was definitely coined to draw attention to the dangers inherent in unrestrained “development”, in a world where all countries have ambitions of becoming “developed”. We cannot, for practical and moral reasons, stop any country from … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng, for The Edge Malaysia, 24 April – 1 May 2026 Decolonisation is a complicated process. While a lot was written about it in the late 20th century, much less attention has been paid by scholars to that subject over the last two decades. This might suggest a popular acceptance (1) that … Continue reading
By OOI KEE BENG, Penang Monthly April 2026 editorial IN THE ENGLISH language, a “hamlet” or “colony” connotes a place of untainted being. Nature is close by, human warmth is at hand and social changes are slow enough to be embraced. But the rural, in practice, is often messy, starting with the domestic and half-tamed … Continue reading
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