Kevin Kwan Quotes
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The idea of Asian ascendancy has entered public culture.
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Hollywood is a whole other level of crazy. I've never met so many assistants who have assistants. It's a stratified society on its own.
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My father came from old money. There was less of an expectation for the children to earn a living.
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My father grew up in a life of extreme privilege.
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I was born in Singapore, and I lived there until I was 12. I had a very fortunate upbringing.
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I'm a writer. I'm naturally introverted, so being the public face of something, I don't think I do it well.
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No matter our background, we all have crazy families.
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I know an elderly society matron in Singapore who would rather walk in the scorching sun for blocks on end rather than have her chauffeur drive into the Central Business District at peak hour and pay the $1.50 surcharge.
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In Asia, it's customary to get together with your entire extended family on a regular basis, and it's all rife with politics.
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I've always been drawn to the Edwardian period in England. To me, it seems like such a fascinating time, when the British Empire was at the height of its powers and the strict mores of the Victorian age were dissipating into the decadence of King Edward's reign.
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I'm naturally a shy, quiet person.
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I was born on the island of Singapore, and I grew up there until I was 11 years old, when I was forcibly removed by my dad and planted into suburban Houston. I was in shock for the first year and then began to really love it - but didn't love it quite enough to stay.
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All Americans knew was 'The Joy Luck Club' and children of dry cleaners trying to assimilate. The Asia that I was seeing was a world of people who are incredibly sophisticated, and I wanted to represent that side.
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Especially in the West, people want to understand Asia on a deeper level because it's become the engine of the world economy, like it or not.
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I think, at least for me, I'm so impressed by Shanghai and how all of China continues to evolve. On a style level, you're seeing this increased sophistication and brand awareness.
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My books are comedies; I want to take my readers on a jet-setting romp, make them laugh, make them swoon at the beautiful settings, and maybe even make their mouths water at all the food.
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I moved to New York and went to art school at Parsons School of Design. Became a photographer. Became a creative consultant.
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If I were to generalize a bit, I would say that the ultra rich in Asia live on a scale that far surpasses the wealthy in the U.S. or Europe.
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It's not normal to go into a house and see a pond in the middle of the living room full of baby sharks. It's not normal to go to someone's garage and see a private plane.
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I came from a family of extremely old money, and so by the time I was born, there was really just a trickle of money left.
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The China Rich seem to be spending on a scale that's just beyond anything we've ever seen before. They are building and buying an insane amount of luxury residences around the world, commissioning huge flying palaces from Boeing, and paying ridiculous amounts for art.
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My golden dream was to move to New York and live in the Village and become that cool rebel beatnik Jack Kerouac.
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I grew up with a posh English accent, and all my aunts sounded as if they came out of a Merchant Ivory movie.
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I love Netflix and Amazon and watching movies on streamers as much as the next person.