Kevin Kwan Quotes
-
The most important thing to keep in mind is the incredible diversity of talent that's out there - there are so many great actors from all over Asia, from Singapore and Hong Kong to the Philippines and Mainland China, not to mention many great Asian-American actors who are eager for fun and challenging roles.
-
I live in New York, but I still get the village gossip. My apartment is a crash pad for so many Singaporean cousins and friends.
-
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.
-
Every family is a crazy family.
-
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.
-
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.
-
I'm not sure if being Chinese really helped, but I do think that if a non-Asian had written a book called 'Crazy Rich Asians,' they might not have been looked upon so kindly.
-
I'm naturally a shy, quiet person.
-
I remembered that my grandfather had spent his teenage years in Shanghai and that he went back after he finished medical school to work there in a hospital. So I went back into my family archives and was able to find out his exact address; it was a street that was in the French Concession.
-
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.
-
I sort of wanted to reveal this other side of Asia: Southeast Asia, where the Chinese have been wealthy for generations and have different ways of relating to money. I wanted to sort of reveal this world to readers.
-
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.
-
I have pictures of my grandmother from the 1920s and '30s in avant-garde dresses that looked like they could have come from the House of Worth or Lucien Lelong. She would never say if they were couture, but I do recall her telling me, 'All my clothes and shoes came from Paris.'
-
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.
-
I'm a writer. I'm naturally introverted, so being the public face of something, I don't think I do it well.
-
I was born in Singapore, and I lived there until I was 12. I had a very fortunate upbringing.
-
My golden dream was to move to New York and live in the Village and become that cool rebel beatnik Jack Kerouac.
-
I remember I had an aunt that lived in a house that had this beautiful ceramic wall that was entirely a painting of a peacock.
-
If you're the water boiler king of China, you're selling a billion water boilers.
-
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.
-
I love Netflix and Amazon and watching movies on streamers as much as the next person.
-
No matter our background, we all have crazy families.
-
I grew up with a posh English accent, and all my aunts sounded as if they came out of a Merchant Ivory movie.
-
Living in the West, you see how there's only two versions of how Asian men are supposed to be. Either they're very nice, yuppie husbands with children in ads, or they're IT geeks.