Jolene Tan > Quotes

“For her and Nurul merely to share a meal cooked in their own kitchen was a triumph; to wake up together each morning a luxury.”
― Jolene Tan, A Certain Exposure

“Saying nothing at all, whatever the circumstances, was their established mode of shared existence.”
― Jolene Tan, A Certain Exposure

“These doors opened in further questions. Though she perceived, sharply, the necessity of action, its closer contours were shrouded in the fog of her own intentions.”
― Jolene Tan, A Certain Exposure

“Brian organised for the body to be flown back.”
― Jolene Tan, A Certain Exposure

“While the thoroughbreds often take their success for granted as an organic outgrowth of the natural order, a late bloomer might be more conscious of what exactly they owe to their patron, and thus show some old-fashioned gratitude.”
― Jolene Tan, After The Inquiry

“Someone had been unkind; but at bottom this unkindness was only that of universe, responding inexorably and impartially to something which did not fit. The identity or motivations of its anonymous agent did not matter: if not now, if not this way, the disaster would have found another time to emerge, in some other form.”
― Jolene Tan, A Certain Exposure

“Her mental space was a silent island of innocent neutrality, preserved amid the chaos of screams, blows and tears alike.”
― Jolene Tan, A Certain Exposure

“Blame is like mould, like weeds, you can foster or inhibit it. Give it nooks and crannies to hunker down, and bits of detritus to feed on, and it grows. The more guidelines and criteria you publish, the more pressure points and feelings of entitlement you set up. Then the culture of blame flourishes, bogging us all down. But if policies come from above--" I pointed a finger heavenwards. "--based on our careful understanding of the system as a whole, then the day-to-day administration can be clean and smooth. There are fewer places for blame to put its roots.”
― Jolene Tan, After The Inquiry

“Between academic training, however sophisticated, and the daily realities of governance, lies a gap which experience alone cannot bridge. Experience, you see, is only raw material; it can be refined into all the wrong lessons. A budding public servant needs, above all, guidance... Guidance gives experience value, by helping the young to properly interpret what they encounter and assess how to respond.”
― jolene tan