Penang today is very much an amalgam of the old and the new – a bustling port, a heritage city and an industrial base. Perhaps it has more to offer per square mile than any other place in the world. For sheer variety of locales, cultures and foods, Penang is hard to beat. Here are stories about Penang and more.
The morning of 17 August 2025 unfolded with pageantry and purpose. After 35 years, the Asean Navies’ City Parade (ANCP) returned to Penang and I had the honour of taking part as a member of the State Chinese (Penang) Association (SCPA).
The score of "Untuk Negeri Kita" by Awaluddin Zainal Alam.
For more than half a century, the state anthem, "Untuk Negeri Kita" (“For Our State”), has been more than just a ceremonial tune. For me, it was the song that opened every school assembly at La Salle Primary School and later echoed through the colonial hallways of St. Xavier's Institution during my secondary years. We sang it with pride, unaware of the layered history behind its creation.
Le Dux Patisserie – where passion rises with the dough
At the quiet break of dawn, while the city still slumbers, a warm glow begins to stir behind the glass walls of Le Dux Patisserie in upper Beach Street. By 5:00 am, Chef Belle Tan Phey Phey, a maître pâtissière, is already gently coaxing butter into layers of delicate croissant dough – a ritual she repeats each day (except on off days). It is here, in the heart of George Town, that craft meets care in the art of French pastry.
Wat Buppharam may not appear on every traveller’s must-see list in Penang, but those who step into its tranquil embrace are often rewarded with sacred and unexpected discoveries. Can a silent statue whisper the truth of your wishes? Within its shrine hall rests a humble, one-foot-tall figure known as the “Lifting Buddha”, a sacred icon believed to be able to reveal just that!
In the quiet hush of a cold morning at the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial, I stood amidst the lingering mist, each breath a visible puff in the air. I saw hills of shoes, silent witnesses to lives extinguished. Then came the photographs, frozen in time, capturing emaciated bodies, hollow eyes, and unspeakable suffering. I stepped into the remnants of the gas chambers, where silence screamed louder than words. The chill was no longer just physical; it was emotional, moral, spiritual. It was a searing reminder of the horrors man can inflict on his fellow human beings. The hatred. The cruelty. The machinery of death carried out with cold precision.
Growing up in Ayer Itam in the 1970s was like living in an endless festival. The wet market was our food playground, where you could buy something delicious at any time of the day. We would show up with our own tiffin carriers and even supply our own eggs to the char koay kak lady or Pak Dollah, the mee goreng uncle, who always accepted them without batting an eyelid. Ah Heng, the rojak man, parked his cart in front of my house. He would skewer halved green mangoes with a lidi (coconut leaf stick), smothering them in thick rojak sauce and crushed peanuts, creating a truly scrumptious snack. His sliced bangkwang, topped with similar ingredients, was another of my favourite treats. When Ah Heng eventually pivoted from rojak to koay teow th'ng, it was a welcomed change. His bowl of noodles was packed with minced pork, pork slices, liver, fish balls and topped with bak yu phok (fried lard) and spring onions.
Behind the simple and slightly derivative design, the Malaysian flag has, since its creation, served as a silent testament to the country's heritage and cultural mix, and upholding cherished values like freedom and justice.
Let us take a moment to reflect on the name of Malaysia's national flower, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. The word "hibiscus" originates from the Greek "hibiskos", a name given by the ancient physician Pedanius Dioscorides (c. 40–90 AD). Dioscorides, also a botanist, authored the influential De Materia Medica, a five-volume Greek encyclopaedia on herbal medicine.
There is a spellbinding magic when tradition meets innovation, when culinary techniques rooted in European precision are combined with passion and local ingredients to create something truly sedap-licious. At Third Culture Dining, the three-course Lite Set Lunch, priced at RM68+ per person, is a standout offering, especially considering the cost of such thoughtfully selected produce. As a Penangite, we are always on the lookout for great value, and I was simply charmed by this unbelievable offer.
I have always been captivated by Chef Petr Fehér’s culinary artistry – his creations are delicate yet brimming with flavour, and each dish is plated with a refined elegance that reflects his passion and skill. His masterful touch transforms quality ingredients into sumptuous delights that enchant the senses and linger in memory.
The Russian musician Igor Stravinsky might have composed Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rites of Spring) as an exploration of nature and the rituals of renewal and sacrifice, but one could safely conjecture that the ritual and ceremony of the Malaysian floral bath was created for more personal (and less lofty) reasons. The two may be worlds apart, but both Stravinsky and the local bomoh share one thing – invoking the power and the mystery of nature and the elements in their work.
I usually stay away from horror stories, especially those that have blood and gore plastered all over the cover. I know that one should never judge a book by its cover. However having been an art director for more than three decades, I feel that a cover has to set the right tone and sell the book. The cover of "Looking After the Ashes" by Kopi Soh shows two wide-eyed kids, enchanted by the storyteller, enveloped with an eerie atmosphere. Picking up the book, I would not have been able to anticipate that it would be a page-turner for me.