The Night Tiger Quotes
"When you are dead, I will find your missing finger," Ren replies in a clear, small voice.
"You must get it back before the forty-nine days of my soul are over."
"Forty-four is an unlucky number for Chinese. It sounds like 'die, definitely die,'"
"It was to pay a debt of forty Malayan dollars that my mother had incurred at a ruinously high interest rate."
"If I were a boy, it would be a different matter."
"No, there are other girls with long hair," I pointed out.
"Look beautiful," she said. "Look exactly like Louise Brooks."
"He was a salesman, he said. Specializing in school and office supplies."
"I used to sell cosmetics. I know a lot about women's skin."
"You should, because I'm going to be very lucky."
"The body must be made whole again when you die. Anything added must be removed, and anything missing replaced—otherwise your soul won’t rest in peace."
"I'm sorry," Shin said, laughing. And then he really did look sorry.
"Because you should be the one in medical school."
"The worst part about death is forgetting the image of the beloved."
"Good luck won't improve someone like you, if that's what you're worried about."
"Self-conscious about my scratched face, I kept my eyes on my lap."
"He seems grateful for the work and has tidied my study obsessively."
"You must think I’m very silly," she says. "It’s all superstition anyway."
"Don’t count me in. I’m not really your brother, you know."
"But I actually saw you this morning, walking in the rubber estate. You seemed to be looking for someone."
"Sometimes her flirting seems almost malicious."
"It’s just a family disagreement, she said, and it wouldn’t happen again."
"I can’t tell," he said. "Make her twirl a bit more."
"You’re supposed to get offended, like other girls. Not snort like that."
"That finger definitely came from the hospital," said Shin.
"You were first on the scene, weren’t you?" says Rawlings.
"We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done."
"You work at the hospital?" Ren shakes his head, but the boy continues. "Have you seen the ghost there?"
"Let me show you something," he says. "What do you think of me?"
"Because you’d probably make a stupid decision."
"Because you’d be sad if somebody died, right?"
"My grandmother told me about a tiger village, near Gunung Ledang in Malacca."
"One of these days, I won’t return to my body."
"Is that so?" the old man had said, his eyes placid and hooded. But Ren, remembering his remarks, had wondered.
"Who’d want to come back for a gallbladder?" I said.
"Leslie said you’re hosting the next get-together for the younger doctors."
"I couldn’t help laughing, even though most of the tales were dreadful."
"How was I supposed to react to this news of supposed infidelity? Perhaps just a brave, upset face would be good enough."
"It wasn’t wise to wait near the men’s hostel, where Y. K. Wong might well run into me if he returned."
"That office was where the previous director’s wife had caught him trying on a nurse’s uniform. Size XL."
"This was where the first blood transfusion in the hospital had taken place."
"The last thing I wanted was a heart-to-heart talk with Robert but he’d clasped my hand in both of his and I couldn’t see any means of escape without shoving him off the bench."
"I’m sorry," Koh Beng drew a little closer. "If there’s anything I can do—" He put a hand on my shoulder."
"We don’t have to pretend right now. There’s no one else around."
"It was Robert who kissed me, on a bench outside the watch repair shop."
"What sort of help was he offering you?" asked Shin.
"He's a better man than me," thinks William, wishing desperately that Nandani would disappear and not look at him with her sad eyes.
"It means doing things in the proper order, like a ritual. And this one, An, means peace. If you put them together with Wei, it means ‘for the sake of order and peace.’"
"Without Li, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?"
"If there’s any trouble, let him know at once."
"I’m going back to Ipoh after lunch," I reminded her.
"I told her that if she gets married, she can go ahead and do whatever she wants."
"Sorry, no more ice," says Ren, gathering up the ice bucket and tongs in relief.
"I wish it weren’t so!" and the pattern reorders to suit him.
"You’ve no idea how much trouble I’ve had, getting rid of your admirers over the years."
"I thought I might as well go for it. Especially since Ming got engaged."
"Family is really important. You’ll find out when you get older."
"I’m glad that you have a brother now, even if the two of you argue."
"You mustn’t let them in, not ever, even if they scratch at the door with their long nails and call to you with sweet plaintive voices, promising knowledge and secrets."
"Better check that he didn’t go home early. I heard he was first on the scene this morning."
"Just tell her to take all of it if she has a stomachache. It’s a mild tonic; I take it myself."
"I’ve quit already. So you don’t have to worry."
"I’m sorry. It was all I could think of at the time."