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By OOI KEE BENG [Editorial in PENANG MONTHLY, April 2012] For all movements of liberation, the key to successful initiatives lies in identifying what the means of sustained suppression are, and to know which area is the most strategic to attack at a given time. No doubt, some areas are more fundamental than others and … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng [Editorial in Penang Monthly, http://www.penangmonthly.com] It has now been two years since this magazine, Penang Economic Monthly, was revamped into a new colourful product meant for wider circulation and sale. The reasons why that had to be done are still valid. In fact, they are more valid than ever. After March … Continue reading
For some reason, Penang has produced many economists who have made substantial impact on the global stage. Prof Woo Wing Thye of Thean Teik Road is one of the foremost among them. As a young boy, he was curious about the outside world, and managed to clear his own path to the top, always helped … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng for Penang Economic Monthly, August 2011 Standfirst: Leaving one place does not mean that you have a definite destination in mind. For Tan Thean Peng, the conditions of a journalistic career saw him working for a long line of employers throughout the region, from Sydney to Bangkok to Hong Kong. Finally, … Continue reading
Wazir Jahan Karim (Ed): Straits Muslims: Diasporas of the Northern Passage of the Straits of Malacca. Straits G.T. of Intersocietal and Scientific, 2009. REVIEW by Ooi Kee Beng Maritime Southeast Asia was – and is – a region filled with port cities. Such urban centres tend to concentrate both power and money. But more than … Continue reading
I SHALL tell you a secret. Whenever in Dublin, I actually prefer browsing through bookstores to bumming down at a public house for a piece of steak washed down with a stout. And truly, only in Ireland does Guinness Stout taste like it should. No, I cannot keep away from Irish bookstores. The range is … Continue reading
THE UNESCO decision to put Penang jointly with Malacca on its World Heritage List two years ago signified a few fascinating things. For one thing, it was of course a satisfying triumph for the many NGO activists in Penang who had been patiently pushing for that status for years. Secondly, the listing of the two port-towns … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng THE PASSING of Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu in November last year threw a challenge to all serious scholars of Malaysian history. Not much has so far been written about him. No doubt most books on the country’s political history do mention episodes such as his successful challenge against Tan Cheng … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng for Penang Monthly, July 8, 2010. A politician may point the way, but without competent and dedicated civil servants to do the work, not much gets done. This gets truer the more adventurous the politician’s goals are. So, when Dr Lim Chong Eu envisaged Penang as the production base for international … Continue reading
PROFILE OF NICOL DAVID [Standfirst] Champions don’t grow on trees, especially champions like Nicol David, who has been World No. 1 in Women’s Squash since August 2006. Ooi Kee Beng tries to find out what makes her tick, and tick so consistently and impressively. What he finds out is that although this 26-year-old already dominates … Continue reading
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