ISLAND VOICES
quotes
PAPER
1"You're a show-off, what's so grand about marble flooring and a swimming pool? Why don't you put your money to better use?" - Pg3
"There is a devil in him" - Pg7
The Martydom of Helena Rodrigues
"Helena's tactics enabled her to tyrannize most people - with normally sensitive consciences" - Pg 12
"George was kept tied to Helena's side" - Pg 13
Sundowner
""All right, sir," said the Malay, "Aman can speak English"" - Pg 21
"Only in the mornings, tuan. They could stop if tuan wishes" - Pg 22
Tanjong Rhu
"She has eaten more salt than you have rice" -Pg 35
"They're special glasses, big ones to help you see things faraway." - Pg 31
Evening Under Frangipani
"Their home was in a cul-de-sac lined with frangipani trees: their fragance sweet and cloying when in full blossom." - Pg 53
"I'm so glad you've converted to Christianity. it would be such a pity if Elaine couldn't have beef." - Pg 59
Lee
"She spoke of her mother coolly, without hesitation." - Pg 88
"He learnt to get used to the fact that people mistook Lee to be much older than she really was." - Pg 93
A History of Tea
"Better to let the dead sleep and for her to think as kindly as she can of the grandmother she never saw." - Pg 112
"The drive and teh-halia after make me feel better too. The strength of tea." - Pg 114
A Dream of China
"The sad, sly eyes lost the wary hold they had gained on my sympathy." - Pg 123
"The years passed. I discovered that not everyone viewed China as my father did." - Pg 127
Release
"She woke up with a start." - Pg 144.
"She saw the man emerge from the shadows, wiping the spanner. Her heart froze." - Pg 148
An Obituary for Fifth Aunt Come Late
"She was my aunt but I didn't make it a point to be her niece." - Pg 149
"The imperial army entered the impregnable fortress on their bicycles, the fortress whose guns pointed stubbornly out to sea." - Pg 156.
Corridor
"That man might have been killed at the exact moment when I was sitting in that hotel room with the silly piped music." - Pg 167
"If I was at home when it happened though, I don't know what I would have done." - Pg 169
Mid Autumn
"If God's eye is on the sparrow , he will provide for her" - pg183
"It's a calling from God. It's a fire in my bones. If i don't go, i'll just burn and die." - pg186
Hamid and the Hand of Fate
"it's not wrong to accept gifts if people show you they are grateful for your help, right?" - pg 198
"Young women these days ought not to be trusted." - pg202
The Move
"Too bad the pomegranate has grown so big." - pg 205
"Remember how Melissa and I would wait forever for the first pomegranate of the year to turn red? Did you really have this since we were born?" - pg 206
Pastime
"Then one day -- just like that -- they decide to release him. You don't matter anymore, they tell him. You're history." - pg 214
"It's a hobby, a pastime. It's not real life." - pg 220
