这一集，我们很开心邀请到拉曼大学中文系（金宝校区）系主任杜忠全博士，分享他书写槟城的缘起与思索。自2000年代初期起，杜博士以《老槟城·老生活》等系列著作，开启了槟城城市书写与路名研究的传统，成为中文社群认识老槟城的重要媒介。回望这段历程，源于90年代在台湾求学的他，深受当时社会民主化与民间文学思潮的启发，进而将目光转回故乡。他聆听在地耆老的记忆，并有意识地将个人的回忆镶嵌其中；对杜老师而言，这不只是文字记录，更是他当年决定返回马来西亚后，一种心灵上“回家”的方式。这份书写，恰好与当年民间积极推动古迹申遗的浪潮相呼应，为槟城乔治市留下了重要的集体生活记忆。就让我们一起聆听，感受杜博士对家乡的深情，以及在出书20年后，他对这座城市一路走来的观察与思考。
In this episode, we welcome Dr. Toh Teong Chuan, Head of the Department of Chinese Studies (Kampar Campus) at UTAR, to share his journey of writing about Penang. Since the early 2000s, his acclaimed Old Penang, Old Life series has pioneered local urban literature, serving as an essential window into the city’s heritage. Inspired by Taiwan’s democratisation and folklore movements in the 1990s, Dr. Toh redirected his care toward his homeland. By listening to local elders and weaving in his own memories, writing became his spiritual way of “coming home” after returning to Malaysia. His work beautifully echoed the civic movement for UNESCO World Heritage status, preserving the collective memory of Penang. Let us tune in to feel Dr. Toh’s deep affection for his hometown and his observations and reflections on the city’s journey twenty years after publishing his books.