Timeless Penang: Tradition in Transition
Wazir Jahan Karim, Editor
Cover design and layout by Adrian Cheah
Designing "Timeless Penang: Tradition in Transition" was a journey as rewarding as it was challenging. From the outset, I wanted the visual design to echo the spirit of the book: vibrant, textured, and deeply rooted in Penang’s cultural and historical richness.
The choice of fonts was an important element in shaping the design. The family font of Adobe Garamond Pro, elegant and timeless, carried the headings, subheadings, and body text with clarity, making it easy to read. With its elegant proportions, tall x-height for readability, open counters, and delicate serifs, the typeface brought a quiet refinement that suited the depth of Penang’s story.
Page layout was another vital consideration. I divided the spreads into three columns, deliberately reserving one column as breathing space. This rhythm gave the dense material room to flow, while the text occupied two-thirds of the page, striking a good balance between positive and negative space. That breathing space guided the eye and lent clarity, ensuring that the content could be absorbed with ease.
With 326 illustrations, maps, charts, and tables, the book was already bursting with colour. To avoid overwhelming the reader, I kept the headings and body text restrained in black. This also allowed the colourful images to shine, giving them prominence while keeping the overall design cohesive. As a photographer, I was pleased to contribute a few of my own photographs of Penang to the book.
The endpapers, meanwhile, carried a touch of history, an antique map of the East India Islands by Samuel Dunn, setting the stage for readers as they entered and exited the volume.
The cover features a golden-hued seascape over looking Butterworth, viewed from Penang Island, framed by silhouettes of trees and boats. It reflects a moment of transition while heralding the dawn of endless possibilities for Penang. For the title, Impact was selected to anchor the cover with strength and immediacy, a bold visual statement that matched Penang’s enduring presence. Strong illuminated typography against the golden sky ensured a striking presence, making the title prominent and unmissable even at a glance.
This was more than a design exercise. It was about honouring the voices of the contributors and the editor, Prof. Emerita Dato’ Seri Dr. Wazir Jahan Karim, while shaping a visual narrative that supported their work. I was commissioned by Marcus Langdon of Entrepot Publishing, and working with him has always been a real privilege. His professionalism, deep knowledge as an author and historian of Penang, and uncompromising commitment to quality elevated the entire process. It was equally rewarding to work alongside Prof. Wazir. To bring together such a monumental book, curating the best minds and voices on Penang’s heritage, was no small task, and her brilliance in steering it deserves the highest admiration. She once joked that the book should really have been called “Sleepless in Penang", a fitting reflection of the immense dedication and long hours that went into its making.
To see the finished work launched at Seri Mutiara by Penang’s Governor, Tun Dato’ Seri Utama Ahmad Fuzi bin Hj. Abdul Razak, was truly a special moment.
It is fulfilling to see how Timeless Penang now stands as a book that tells its story with beauty, through both words and design. I am grateful to have played a part in bringing it to life.
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Written by Adrian Cheah
Photographed by Adrian Cheah and Yayasan Hasanah
© All rights reserved
25 May 2024
Timeless Penang: Tradition in Transition
Wazir Jahan Karim, Editor
May 2024, Entrepot Publishing Sdn Bhd
Hardcover. 24.8 cm x 24.8 cm x 2.5 cm, 336 pages; 1400 gm
Language: English
Illustrated throughout
Genre: Non-fiction, history
ISBN 978-629-99042-2-9
Available at entrepotpublishing.com
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About the Author
Wazir Jahan Karim is an economic anthropologist and a pioneer of Gender Studies in Malaysia. She is currently engaged in projects on heritage and conservation in Malaysia. Below are some of her major works:
- ‘Ma’ Betise’ Concepts of Living Things’ (Athlone: London, New Jersey, 1981; Berg 2004 LSE Monograph No 54) – bestowed the Raymond Firth Award for best research in anthropology, LSE, 1977.
- Emotions of Culture: A Malay Perspective (Oxford University Press; Singapore 1990) – a pioneering work on psychological anthropology through discourses of the Malay mind.
- Women and Culture: Between Malay Adat and Islam (Westview Press: Boulder 1992) – an ethnographic study on women’s oscillation between modernity and the traditions of adat.
- Gendered Fields: Women, Men, Ethnography (with D. Bell and P. Caplan Co-Eds) (Routledge: London 1994) – diversity and reflexivity among anthropologists in field research.
- ‘Male and ‘Female’ in Developing Southeast Asia (Berg Publishers: Oxford:1995) – a breakthrough in indigenous feminism, in Southeast Asian anthropology.
- Feasts of Penang: Muslim Culinary Heritage (MPH, Kuala Lumpur 2012, 2020 2nd Ed.) – culinary anthropology of the Malays, Jawi Peranakans and Indian Muslims.
- Boria: From Passion Play to Malay-Jawi Peranakan Parody (Pelandok: Kuala Lumpur 2018) – a pioneering work on Malay theatre as a weapon of resistance to British colonisation.
- Global Nexus: Political Economies, Connectivity and the Social Sciences (World Scientific: Singapore 2020) – a critique of western social sciences and the political culture of roguishness in global democracies.
- Feminism Undaunted: 50 years a Muslim feminist (World Scientific: Singapore 2024) – Wazir Jahan’s absorbing memoirs as an indigenous feminist living under a diversity of intergenerational experiences in Islam and modernity.
- From Malay Garden to Table: Familiar Fragrances Favoured Flavours, Co-writer Nurilkarim Razha (Areca Books: Penang 2024) – a tribute to natural cuisines of Northern Malays and the Jawi Peranakan.
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Book Launch "Timeless Penang: Tradition in Transition" at Seri Mutiara, on Saturday, 25 May 2024: 9 am–12 noon
It was my first time stepping into Seri Mutiara, the official residence of the Governor of Penang, and the setting was rather fitting for the book launch. The mansion, originally known as the Residency was completed around 1890. It sits within an estate of landscaped grounds and towering mature trees. The launch itself was held at Anjung Seri Mutiara, where distinguished guests gathered in the hall, providing a grand yet intimate backdrop for the ceremony.
Programme for the Book Launch
9–9.20 am: Arrival of distinguished guests: Puan Siti Kamariah Ahmad Subki, Pengurus Besar, Yayasan Hasanah, Prof Habibah A. Wahab, TNC Penyelidikan & Inovasi, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM); Signing of Visitor’s Book by distinguished guests
10 am: Arrival of TYT Governor of Penang, Tun Dato’ Seri Utama Ahmad Fuzi bin Hj. Abdul Razak
10.15 am: Welcoming Address by Prof Emerita Dato’ Seri Dr Wazir Jahan Karim, editor and Co-Author
10.25 am: Keynote Address: TYT Tun Dato’ Seri Utama Ahmad Fuzi bin Hj. Abdul Razak
10.30 am: Video trailer, ‘Timeless Penang: Tradition in Transition”. TYT Tun signs on the poster of the book cover ‘Timeless Penang: Tradition in Transition” accompanied by Prof Emerita Wazir Jahan and Mr Marcus Langdon.
10.45 am: Prof Emerita Dato’ Seri Dr Wazir Jahan Karim presents first copy of the book to TYT Tun Dato’ Seri Utama Ahmad Fuzi bin Hj. Abdul Razak.
TYT Tun presentation a copy of the book each to Puan Siti Kamariah Ahmad Subki, Managing Director, Yayasan Hasanah, Prof Habibah A Wahab, DVC Research & Innovation, USM, Prof Emerita Dato’ Seri Dr Wazir Jahan Karim, Dr Kam Suan Pheng and Rexy Prakash Chacko, Justine Vaz, YM Tengku Idaura Tengku Ibrahim, Abdul Rashid Karim Razha, Ong Wooi Leng, Lee Siu Meng, Dr Muhammad Abdul Khalid, Hamdan Majeed, Dr Matt Benson
Photo session: TYT with Puan Siti Kamariah Ahmad Subki, Prof Habibah A. Wahab, Prof Emerita Wazir Jahan Karim , Mr Marcus Langdon, all writers, Adrian Cheah, Nadia R. Noordin, Nurilkarim Razha, Afif Jafre and Moe Nazrul.
And then with every invited distinguished guest.
11 am: Lunch
12 noon: Guests depart
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For a full review of the launch event, see Sivaji Vaithilingam’s article on Penang Hyperlocal: Timeless Penang – Tradition in Transition book launched by Penang Governor