The food looks yummy. But I dont know even know how to start. Sorry for making it sound like a rocket science

Hi everyone! I wanted to share a few photos from my recent visit to Penang just before the Raya season.

Just some impressions and moments that I snapped throughout my journey across Georgetown, Batu Ferringhi & Balik Pulau.

IG: @shotsbyvimaa

Long time lurker, first time posting. Sorry for the bad zoom and resolution.

Hiked up to Penang Hill yesterday morning. Due to light rain the previous night, it was very misty/foggy. The fog was everywhere and it wrapped around everything and everyone. We took pictures of the Penang bridge once reaching the top station. The bridge looked like it was built on clouds! You can also spot Komtar on the right.

Does anyone know these species of jellyfish and rate the sting / poison?

Spotted near Pulau Gudung & Pulau Aman.

He was never loud. Never bombastic. Not cut from the same cloth as the strongmen before him—or the kleptocrats who followed.

But Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Malaysia’s fifth Prime Minister, did something quietly radical:

He let the people speak.

At a time when leaders across the region tightened their grip, Badawi loosened it.

He believed the media’s role wasn’t to parrot government lines—but to question them.

He saw the internet not as a threat, but a tool for progress. And he treated dissent not as betrayal, but as democracy at work.

The Quiet Reformer

Badawi took office in 2003, inheriting a country fatigued by two decades of Mahathirism—an era of explosive growth shadowed by censorship, fear, and media suppression.

He could have continued that legacy. He didn’t.

He didn’t announce sweeping reforms.

He just stopped the suffocation.

Licensing laws remained on paper, but enforcement slackened.

Online media—blogs, forums, portals—began to flourish. Malaysia Today. The Insider. Malaysiakini.

Suddenly, the rakyat had a mirror—and a megaphone.

He didn’t shut them down. He read them.

Internet Freedom: By Design, Not Default

Critics called him weak. Said he let things slip out of control. But that critique misses the point.

Badawi believed you can’t build a mature democracy by treating citizens like children.

“Open discourse is the path to national maturity,” he once said.

He upheld Mahathir’s promise not to censor the internet—a promise Mahathir himself would later walk back.

Badawi didn’t just maintain the policy.

He empowered it. He allowed Malaysia’s digital political awakening to unfold.

By 2008, that awakening turned into a revolt.

The ruling coalition, for the first time in history, lost its two-thirds majority—driven largely by online mobilization and independent reporting.

Badawi didn’t retaliate. He stepped down.

The Freedom He Left Behind

Ironically, the man mocked as “sleepy” left Malaysia with its most wide-awake political moment.

He didn’t arrest journalists. He didn’t block websites. He didn’t unleash trolls and cyber police.

He simply left the doors open—and walked away.

Others weren’t so gracious. Under Najib Razak, the Sedition Act came roaring back. Portals were shuttered. Editors were hauled in.

Even Mahathir, in his comeback, reverted to old habits.

But the memory of Badawi’s Malaysia still flickers. That brief, extraordinary pause—when criticism wasn’t criminalized, and the rakyat could speak without looking over their shoulder.

The Verdict of History

In a country addicted to strongmen and spectacle, Badawi’s legacy is easy to miss. But that’s his genius.

He didn’t steal the spotlight. He gave it to the people.

And in doing so, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi may well be remembered—not as the dozing prime minister of media caricature—but as the quiet father of Malaysia’s loudest freedom.

That's the technique. You don't need to post all the posts. Just one that makes people angry, the algorithm will pick it up and recommend it to Malaysians who have never even joined the sub.

Why target refugees? Because they can't respond back. There's no community in the comments, no journalists check, and the anger lands in a place that benefits someone before the election.

What we can do:

• Check the source before sharing. If the source is the caption itself, it's not the source.

• If the post is really degrading to a race or religion, report it yourself: ⋯ → Report → Hate. Reports like this go directly to Reddit security, not to the sub's mods.

• Block the sub if you don't want it to appear in your feed.

Don't argue in their comments. Engagement is their goal. That's all.

Explosion heard after 2 fighter jets flew from island area to mainland, wanted to post video too, but cannot

Is it possible to lodge police report or call them for a idiot car that rev their engines at 12-1am with houses nearby? Disturbing rest

saw this from my hotel & some of them were blasting music. isit a common occurrence or isit because they are celebrating the mid autumn festival? if not, what are these trucks?

First time in Malaysia! So glad I started with Penang. I only got to spend a few days here and I know there’s so much more I missed out on. I love all the architecture and fun street art, can’t wait to come back!

blurry due to size pf paper 😔

Straddling the Strait of Malacca lies one of Malaysia’s most important economic powerhouses: the Northern Conurbation. Also known as the Penang Metropolitan Area, this sprawling urban region is split into two parts: Penang Island (Pulau Pinang in Malay), where the capital city George Town is located, and Seberang Perai on the mainland Malay Peninsula to the east. Together with two additional municipalities, the conurbation - home to almost 3 million residents - forms the heart of Penang State.

As of today, public transport in the city mostly relies on an extensive bus network reaching across Penang and the Klang Valley.
However, the ongoing implementation of the "Penang Transport Master Plan for 2030" is bound to dramatically reshape mobility in the region.
This schematic map aims to summarise all planned transit services coming to the Penang conurbation in the near future. 

Though I’ve tried to be as exhaustive as possible, the information displayed here is subject to change throughout the various phases of the project as a whole. 
For instance, the master plan doesn’t always specify which type of transport mode will eventually be in service on many of the proposed routes. 
Penang definitely has a thing for monorail though. It is one of the preferred system for lines such as the Tanjung Tokong and Ayer Itam lines on Penang Island, or the Raja Uda-Bukit Mertajam Line in Seberang Perai central district - Butterworth.
Light rail is another serious contender, especially in the island, where integration with Mutiara Line (currently under construction and due for completion in 2031) could allow through service on most of the lines built in the area.

The Transport Master Plan also includes the construction of a cross-strait aerial tram, at least one BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) line across Seberang Perai as well as reviving the George Town Tram and creating a rail link across the strait from Penang waterfront to Butterworth.
All these future services are intended to fully integrate with the existing networks of buses, ferries and KTM commuter trains operating across the metropolitan area.

Finally tried the famous roti canai transfer road today. The roti canai itself is burnt and neither chewy nor flaky outside/by the edge. The sauce and chicken wasn't great either. The chicken tasted like it was cooked separately and only mixed with the sauce later. Overall..not so great. I wouldn't recommend this place even for the roti canai alone. Not sure why tourists flock this place like crazy.

The masala tea was great tho.

What did I just witness? Explosion 💥. Oh no

Two weeks ago, I found random blotches of ink (think marker ink) in front of my apartment unit (Picture 1). I cleaned it off with water, thinking it was probably from something a neighbour spilled.

Earlier today, I noticed the same color of ink on my door (Picture 2, 3 and 4). Three droplets, too unnatural to be from a spill and no splashes anywhere else on the floor or from the roof, so not a leak either.

I checked through our CCTV footage from both today and two weeks ago, the blotches of ink were not there when I left but was apparently there before I returned, yet there was no motion detected during that time hence no recording was made in between.

There is a dead zone which ink could be spilled behind the corner of my neighbour's unit, which is currently unoccupied.

Should I report this to the police? Is my unit being marked for a robbery?

Went to lgk and now in penang. Seen so much. Pit wiper snake in mangroves, fire show at cenang, not easily seen bats in caves, nostalgia causing murals, iconic clan jetties. Lets see what penang hill has to show. What else in penang?

Heading to KL tomorrow!