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" I do believe that peoples' natures can be changed, and they have to be changed if we want to live in this modern world and be a part of it. "
Kevin Kwan
Modern
World
Want
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" I grew up at a time in Singapore - the '70s and '80s - where it was still possible to go riding around the island barefoot. And I was one of these kids that was just climbing trees and running around the neighbourhood. "
Kevin Kwan
Island
Possible
Riding
" 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
World
Reveal
Side
" 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. "
Kevin Kwan
Live
Village
Gossip
" 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
Important
Experience
My Own
" Old money in Southeast Asia is much more discrete and low key. It's about not wearing brand names. It's about being invisible, almost. The billionaire can be taking the bus with you. "
Kevin Kwan
Money
Brand
Bus
" I love Netflix and Amazon and watching movies on streamers as much as the next person. "
Kevin Kwan
Person
Netflix
Love
" The idea of Asian ascendancy has entered public culture. "
Kevin Kwan
Public
Ascendancy
Asian
" I met a Shanghai photographer who finds these old streets and matches the French names to what they are today. I was able to find my grandfather's block, and just walking the same streets and finding his house was deeply moving. I finally felt connected to China. "
Kevin Kwan
Today
Finding
House
" At least when it comes to food, there's no snobbery in Singapore. "
Kevin Kwan
Singapore
Snobbery
Food
" 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. "
Kevin Kwan
World
People
Economy
" 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
Family
Time
Born
" The characters that populate my books are global nomads in their own right, keeping multiple homes around the world and constantly jet-setting to new places. "
Kevin Kwan
Books
Own
Places
" Every family is a crazy family. "
Kevin Kwan
Family
Crazy
Every
" In Singapore, there may be 50 old-money families, but you wouldn't know them to look at them. "
Kevin Kwan
You
Them
Singapore
" Writers often say that characters begin to write themselves, and I never used to believe that. I always thought that was complete hogwash. "
Kevin Kwan
Always
Never
Say
" 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
Diversity
Talent
Great
" If you're the water boiler king of China, you're selling a billion water boilers. "
Kevin Kwan
Water
China
King
" It would have been amazing to have been a student at Oxford during that golden moment in the 1910s, rubbing elbows with the likes of Aldous Huxley and T.E. Lawrence, before World War I shattered everything forever. "
Kevin Kwan
War
Amazing
Moment
" 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
Walk
Business
Drive
" There's always been this tradition of satirizing these rich groups of people. "
Kevin Kwan
People
Been
Always
" I have a photographic memory. "
Kevin Kwan
Photographic
Memory
" I go to Shenzhen, China, and am taken to a vast luxury spa with a hundred leather recliners and a hundred accompanying plasma screen televisions bolted to the ceiling. "
Kevin Kwan
Ceiling
Go
Leather
" My father grew up in a life of extreme privilege. "
Kevin Kwan
Up
Extreme
Father
" I wanted to introduce a contemporary Asia to a North American audience. "
Kevin Kwan
Asia
Introduce
American
" Certainly, living in the U.S., as I have for over two decades, you see how Asians are portrayed in the media... I didn't see myself represented, you know, when I used to look at ads on TV. "
Kevin Kwan
Myself
You
Know
" I wanted to explore what all this new-found wealth means for the different generations of Chinese who have to live together in this place that is transforming at warp speed into the richest country on the planet. "
Kevin Kwan
Wealth
Together
Speed
" People are often disappointed when they meet me because I'm not this giant, flamboyant - you know, I don't wear sequined jackets. "
Kevin Kwan
Me
Know
Because
" I moved to New York and went to art school at Parsons School of Design. Became a photographer. Became a creative consultant. "
Kevin Kwan
Creative
School
New York
" I would not call my family 'traditional Chinese.' We were more what I would term the Colonial Chinese. "
Kevin Kwan
Call
Chinese
Colonial
" My golden dream was to move to New York and live in the Village and become that cool rebel beatnik Jack Kerouac. "
Kevin Kwan
Live
Cool
Dream