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By OOI KEE BENG Editorial December 2016, Penang Monthly It seems very little is written about the history of a key location like Ayer Itam (I take the liberty of using the old spelling here). And since Penang Monthly is running some articles about the village in this issue, I decided to seek out some … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng Editorial, November 2016, PENANG MONTHLY Most religions are defined by their rituals and by the regimenting the collective behaviour of its followers. That is what ultimately defines a “religious establishment”. During this process, things tend to get misunderstood and become issues for contestation despite starting out as rather rational and practical … Continue reading
By OOI KEE BENG Editorial in Penang Monthly, October 2016. Man’s discoveries and inventions revolutionise him. That is a truism. The conquest of fire altered how and what we eat; the invention of the wheel changed how we travel and how we construct machines; the discovery of germs increased human population as new modes of … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng Editorial, Penang Monthly, September 2016. Much of youth is definitely wasted on the young, and this is because the young as a rule are not aware enough of what it means to be old. They are not burdened by the growing sense of mortality that growing old brings. And that is … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng, Editorial for Penang Monthly, August 2016 Artists – be these painters or sculptors, musicians or even authors in many cases – need sponsors. They need patrons. In our commercial age, there is of course the market, through which some artists can succeed. Those are few though, and the so-called market often … Continue reading
By OOI KEE BENG Editorial, Penang Monthly, July 2016. Penang’s free port status began eroding after the final boundaries of Malaysia were defined with the exit of Singapore in 1965. By 1974, the federal government had made it a thing of the past. Luckily for the state, the state government that was voted into power … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng Editorial in Penang Monthly, June 2016. This morning (May 20, 2016), my 12-year-old daughter asked me “what is Capitalism?”. Since the Cold War is over, this is actually a harder question to answer than one may think. So if you, dear reader, do not mind, I shall use this space to … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng Editorial, Penang Monthly May 2016. Being a late-bloomer, I seldom took part in sports when I was in school. They felt too physical, too competitive and too regimenting. That did not stop me though from admiring those individuals who could excel not only in sprint, long jump and high jump, but … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng Editorial in Penang Monthly, April 2016. Thinking about the liveability of cities makes me wonder in what ways cities are similar enough to each other for us to compare them to each other, not to mention their liveability. By virtue of size and significance, it is common that one differentiates between … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng Editorial, Penang Monthly March 2016. Since our cover story for the month is about the future of education in Malaysia, I would like to take up the issue of exposure as a necessary element in the intellectual development of an individual. And this applies to all ages. What does it mean … Continue reading
