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By OOI KEE BENG Editorial for Penang Monthly, September 2013 I remember spending a lot of time in my teenage years wondering how societies are possible. Noticing how difficult it is for people to get along, I wondered what the key mechanisms are underlying the impressive stability one finds in societies whose members can number … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng [Editorial in PENANG MONTHLY, Feb 2013] Penangites are one proud people. That is not even a controversial statement. They are proud of their food, their history and their geography. They have every reason to be proud. Penang has been the initiator of much is has been good for the country. It … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng For THE EDGE, Malaysia, 24 December 2012 Where do litterbugs come from? By litterbugs, I mean anyone who leaves trash, wastes or pollutants behind for others to dispose of. Actually, I mean everybody. Let us also ask, in what kind of world would such behaviour not matter? Well, conceivably, there was … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng For PENANG MONTHLY, Oct 2012 Standfirst: Cheah Cheng Hye, alumnus of Penang Free School, has been called the Warren Buffett of the East. Although he claims that gives him way too much credit, the reasons why he is one of Asia’s most respected fund managers are many. For one thing, Value … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng In Penang Monthly [December 2012] and in New Mandala, Australia National University, 26 September 2012 There is an anecdote told among close acquaintances of the late Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, Malaysia’s feared and respected Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister in the early 1970s, that he once in confidence said … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng For The Edge, Kuala Lumpur, 24 September 2012 Its very name is magic…Istanbul. All its old names are magic… Byzantium … Constantinople. They conjure images of ancient civilizations, always fighting each other, and sometimes enriching each other. But in the end, they had to merge to leave a skyline that fascinates … Continue reading
PENANG MONTHLY editor Ooi Kee Beng and Roketkini editor Wan Hamidi Hamid interview Professor Tariq Ramadan on the sidelines of the 3rd Penang in Asia Lecture organized by Penang Institute at the Traders’ Hotel, 17th July 2012. The writings of Tariq Ramadan have often been criticized for being contradictory, and in this conversation, they to … Continue reading
By OOI KEE BENG, Editorial in Penang Monthly, September 2012 The history of naming is an extremely interesting one that varies greatly from culture to culture. In some, surnames are important, in others, they are not even existent. In some, personal names were important, in some, less so. Let’s take the Chinese case. In ancient … Continue reading
Interview with Ambiga Sreenevasan: Penang Monthly editor Ooi Kee Beng talks to Bersih icon Ambiga Sreenevasan between sessions at the inaugural ASEAN Coalition for Clean Governance conference on civil society and asks why she thinks “Malaysians are a great people”. Ooi Kee Beng: Let’s discuss the recent rise of civil society activism in Malaysia. … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng [Editorial for Penang Monthly August 2012] The so-called Arab spring that began with the public suicide on 17 December 2010 of a miserable Tunisian vegetable seller whose cart was towed away by the police is often denoted a pro-democracy movement. That latter term is technically correct, seeing how it quickly led … Continue reading
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