As one of Malaysia’s major think tanks, Penang Institute participates in public discourse, identifies both negative and positive socioeconomic trends in state, national and regional development, and attempts persistently to influence policy making in the state and the country. This Newsletter provides summary information on events at the Institute and their significance, and on the Institute’s participation in public life over the previous month. It will forthwith be distributed regularly by email.
Nov 2022 – Malaysia Enters New Terrain In Its Nation Building
There is cautious optimism in the air. The 15th General Election is over, and Penang-born Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is finally the country’s Prime Minister. Penang Institute…
Read MoreOctober 2022 – Democracy Starts With The Vote, But Doesn’t End There
And so, the GE15 general election is called. Of the nine states which had not recently held state-level elections…
Read MoreSeptember 2022 – Distinguishing Between A Uniting Nationalism And A Divisive One
As globalisation processes take hits from numerous angles, nationalism grows in strength throughout the world. This word—Nationalism…
Read MoreAugust 2022 – A Collaborative Approach Will Work Best for Developing, Keeping and Attracting Talents
The economic situation for Penang coming out of Covid-19 looks much better than many could have assumed. FDIs continue…
Read MoreJuly 2022 – Difficult but Promising Times Ahead
Even as Covid cases remain stubbornly high, the world at large has moved on to worry about other pressing matters, such as…
Read MoreJune 2022 – Relax But Stay Cautious
As we start getting used to post-pandemic realities, and physical events and travels become daily affairs again, there is still a need to stay cautious…
Read MoreMay 2022 – Making Conscious Choices In A Changed Environment
If you had fallen into a coma in January 2020, and woken up only in May 2022, you will probably feel very…
Read MoreApril 2022 – Post-Pandemic, People Are Prone To Take Charge Of Their Lives
As things return to “normal” in Malaysia, most of us do sense that a profound transitional period is at hand. This goes beyond…
Read MoreMarch 2022 – Springtime In The Air
The past month has been a very busy one at Penang Institute, despite some staff members catching Covid-19. There is definitely optimism and energy…
Read MoreFebruary 2022
Giving words and attention to the strange forms of isolation we had to endure over the last two years and to the various ways we devised to manage that…
Read MoreJanuary 2022 – A Renewal Of Malaysian Federalism May Be At Hand
Johor is soon to hold its state election separate from the federal election. With that, it joins Sabah and Sarawak, which over the last 18 months …
Read MoreDecember 2021 – Trust Is What We Need, More Than Hope
Hope is what we reserve for things that are beyond our control. It is therefore the passive sentiment most popularly promoted when we are overwhelmed by events, as…
Read MoreNovember 2021 – Exposure Keeps Us Culturally Healthy
What the Covid threat and the lockdowns throughout the world have done is to encourage cultural claustrophobia and social defensiveness. In a country like Malaysia…
Read MoreOctober 2021 – The Post-Covid Reality is a Political Process
There is no doubt that Malaysia and the world will exit into a normality informed by the Covid-19 pandemic which brought common suffering to all of mankind. What that normality will be like…
Read MoreSeptember 2021 – Correct Data and Its Strong Sense of Community Should Get Penang Through
As the world begins to see the end of the pandemic, the real work of rethinking and rebuilding and restoring awaits. This requires reliable information and data about how the pandemic…
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