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I'm naturally a shy, quiet person.
Kevin Kwan -
My golden dream was to move to New York and live in the Village and become that cool rebel beatnik Jack Kerouac.
Kevin Kwan
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No matter our background, we all have crazy families.
Kevin Kwan -
I spent the first 12 years of my life growing up in Singapore. Back then, in the early '80s, it was still a tropical island at the tip of the Malay Peninsula striving to shine on the world stage.
Kevin Kwan -
I was born in Singapore, and I lived there until I was 12. I had a very fortunate upbringing.
Kevin Kwan -
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.
Kevin Kwan -
In Asia, it's customary to get together with your entire extended family on a regular basis, and it's all rife with politics.
Kevin Kwan -
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.
Kevin Kwan
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In order for me to write a scene, it's very important for me to see and experience everything with my own eyes, so yes, I was able to visit some remarkable houses and destinations while I was in China.
Kevin Kwan -
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.
Kevin Kwan -
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.
Kevin Kwan -
I think snobbery is one of the oldest customs in the world, and the rich will always find ways to rank each other and make themselves feel more special than others.
Kevin Kwan -
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.
Kevin Kwan -
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.
Kevin Kwan
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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.
Kevin Kwan -
I grew up with a posh English accent, and all my aunts sounded as if they came out of a Merchant Ivory movie.
Kevin Kwan -
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.
Kevin Kwan -
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.'
Kevin Kwan -
I love Netflix and Amazon and watching movies on streamers as much as the next person.
Kevin Kwan -
I'm a writer. I'm naturally introverted, so being the public face of something, I don't think I do it well.
Kevin Kwan
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If you're the water boiler king of China, you're selling a billion water boilers.
Kevin Kwan -
Warner Bros. is just this amazing historic studio that does great movies.
Kevin Kwan -
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.
Kevin Kwan -
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.
Kevin Kwan