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. 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

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. MCO 2.0 - Garden Talk

    Friday. I've been going around my garden stalking the wildlife and taking videos. So far I've captured two different types of spiders (both equally majestic in their minute stature), an aggressive bright green praying mantis that charged at the camera,... Read more

  8. MCO 2.0 - The Life of Ali

    Sunday. Maybe writing once a week is not a bad idea. I'm glad to report that this week has gone well, some small anxieties notwithstanding. I talked to my friend S yesterday and through the conversation realised that I may have become too attached to my... Read more

  9. MCO 2.0 - Life rhythms and soil systems

    Sunday. Dropping the day counting thing because I can't be bothered. MCO throughout Malaysia has been extended to February 4th, but our daily cases have gotten up to more than 4,000 and I don't think we'll be going anywhere anytime soon. Last year we were... Read more

  10. MCO 2.0 Days 4, 5 and 6 - A breakthrough

    Saturday. I've been guerrilla writing. I pretend not to be writing, walking up and down the house "chilling", and when I least expect it I sit down and hammer out two paragraphs. It's a battle of wits between myself and myself. Sometimes I win,... Read more