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By Ooi Kee Beng, at the “Scars of War and a Shred Commitment to Peace” dialogue panel on 10 September 2026, at the Lin iang Xiong Art Gallery in Penang. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ART is never static. It changes with time, with circumstances, with the need for expressions particular to the times. The same can … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng, speech at book launch on 9 September 2026 at St Xavier’s Institution of Paul Kiong’s book, “The Communist Role I Played”. WE LIVE IN comfortable times today. One could say, “too comfortable times”. It is therefore a privilege for us today here at St Xavier’s Institution, to host an event where … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng, opening speech at the Penang Peace Dialogue, 5-6 September 2026. First, let me say that Peace is not simply the Absence of War. Peace is not merely a Ceasefire. It is a state of mind, a culture, a value system. War is easy, by all present accounts. Peace is hard. Keeping … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng, Editorial for September 2026 issue of Penang Monthly . THE POLITICAL ECONOMY encompassing the night market is strangely illuminative of human society. Why do I say that? Now, one can take the individual as the point of departure for analysing the bare constituents of society. Or one can start with the family, … Continue reading
By OOI KEE BENG (GTLF Festival Director, Penang Monthly Managing Editor, and Penang Institute Executive Director) In Mekong Review, August 2026 MOST FESTIVALS are like birthdays. They puncture the relentless monotony of daily life. Like new year days, harvest or spring festivals, and religious events. In that sense, they are also celebratory. Like parties But … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng, for The Edge, 1-6 August 2026 Serious change in a person’s pathos and ethos—their will and the rationale for their actions and feelings—is most likely to take place when their self-image is altered. A self-image, in turn, is constructed on the network of narratives relevant to their surrounding—their reference group, basically; … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng, Editorial, July 2026, Penang Monthly WRITING DURING THE middle of my writer’s retreat at the Rimbun Dahan arts centre, near Sungai Buloh, I was inspired by its peaceful environment to adopt some generous perspectives about the world. I turn to a seemingly innocuous subject: the hobby. How much time do you need … Continue reading
Interview with Yicai Global, July 15, 2026 (Yicai) July 15 – A new stage in the decolonization in Southeast Asia began recently, triggered not by politics but by the transformative regional growth driven by China’s phenomenal rise, according to the executive director of Penang Institute, one of Malaysia’s major public policy think tanks. “The broad … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng. Penang Monthly editorial for July 2026 THE CONNECTION BETWEEN culture and economics is a fascinating one. Staying alive is much easier to do as a group than alone. Interweaving functions, connecting roles and sharing the benefits of teamwork; all these are the building blocks of society. And of culture. I chase … 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
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