Welcome!

This is the personal website of Jun-E Tan.

I'm a policy researcher who has many interests on the side. This is where I document my explorations both professional and incidental. More about me here.

The website is perpetually in the making, so do check back for updates.

Latest blog posts

  1. Thinking beautiful thoughts

    I cannot believe that it is Friday and the week is over. Another week of working from bed is behind me, and I am trying to make the leap from work mode to chill mode - not so easy when I'm in the same position on the bed, tip tapping away on my home... Read more

  2. Walking dots

    Saturday morning! It's one of those weekends that stretch out with no social obligations or scheduled events in the horizon, few and far between ever since we got out of the pandemic lockdowns. I love the expansive sense of space in time, like I am lying... Read more

  3. Fitness Downgrades

    It's 7 in the morning and I am typing this looking out of the window, the dark blue skies now turning oyster grey. There is some rooster crowing in the distance, and at least four other types of birds calling and chirping away. I am sitting on the bed and... Read more

  4. Fitness Updates

    It's a Sunday afternoon and I have a couple of hours before dinner with family, and so I thought I'd write a little since it's been a long time since I've done a leisurely update. And this update is ever more leisurely because of the unplanned public... Read more

  5. A new job and a new book chapter

    It's been a while since I updated! I am now gainfully employed and no longer part of the informal economy. In July 2022 I joined Khazanah Research Institute full time as a Senior Research Associate. It is great. I enjoy the working environment, I enjoy my... Read more

  6. New Report out on AI Governance in Southeast Asia

    A report that I wrote in partnership with EngageMedia, "Governance of Artificial Intelligence in Southeast Asia", is published :) It can be downloaded here, or in its official home on EngageMedia's website, where you will also find a video... Read more

  7. 星期天，是好天

    突然想用中文寫。更正確的來說，想用我頭腦裡面裝著的零零散散的語言，輕鬆自在地寫一番。 有些語言裡面的一些詞語、字彙，特別能夠表達自己當下想要傳達的意思，頭腦裡面浮現出第一個字就是它。例如說看久了日劇，有時候就會跳出一些「だって...』『余裕がないんだ』『当たり前じゃん』等等短句。可是礙於說話對象的語言能力和自己的並不重疊，結果在最後一秒鐘就翻譯成為"But...", "I don't have the capacity", "Isn't that to... Read more

  8. Wake me up when September ends

    Or, when 2021 ends. Whichever comes first. Oh hello weary world. It's been about 4+ months since my last blog post. I'm trying to figure out what has happened between May and now, but the shifting sands beneath my feet have all but covered the tracks.... Read more

  9. MCO 3.0, and other things in life

    May is my birthday month, and thanks to my intensive blogging stint during the first MCO, I've been able to look back to this time a year ago, to see what I was up to. In May 2020 we were more than 50 days into movement control, slowly opening up into a... Read more

  10. Straw Man

    Earlier this week, we were at the neighbourhood Vietnamese restaurant having pho for lunch. The waiter served us our drinks, accompanied with two biodegradable straws in paper packaging. For a few moments I stared at my straw and the glass of water. The... Read more