Kevin Kwan Quotes
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My father went to boarding school in Sydney when he was 14.
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Every family is a crazy family.
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A lot of the people who live the lives of 'Crazy Rich Asians' don't see the humour of their lives simply because this is just who they are. Even though I'm from that part of the world, I'm no longer part of that world.
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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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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.
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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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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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I'm naturally a shy, quiet person.
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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.
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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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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 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.'
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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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If you're the water boiler king of China, you're selling a billion water boilers.
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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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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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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.
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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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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.
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No matter our background, we all have crazy families.
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I come from an old establishment family from Singapore.
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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.
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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.