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" I was born in Singapore, and I lived there until I was 12. I had a very fortunate upbringing. "
Kevin Kwan
Singapore
Born
Had
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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. "
Kevin Kwan
Me
Seeing
Style
" 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. "
Kevin Kwan
Asia
Live
Rich
" One of the dreams on my wish list is to spend more time in Thailand. "
Kevin Kwan
Dreams
Time
Thailand
" My father grew up in a life of extreme privilege. "
Kevin Kwan
Up
Extreme
Father
" My grandmother used to get her shoes made in Paris in the '30s, and they would be shipped to her in Singapore. "
Kevin Kwan
Singapore
Grandmother
Shoes
" 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
" I've lived in New York City for over twenty years now, and every single day is like a new adventure. At this point, there are many places I'd love to visit, but I can't imagine living anywhere else on the planet. "
Kevin Kwan
Love
Day
City
" 'Crazy Rich Asians' may be fiction, but given the situation I grew up in, I've had an unparalleled view into the very real world it depicts. "
Kevin Kwan
Crazy
World
View
" 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
Rich
Art
Building
" It used to be, on TV, you'd see only two types of Asians. You'd see the science geek who's using his mobile phone or something like that, or you'd see a very token Asian family - yuppie mother and father and two little Asian kids. It's the last barrier for Hollywood. "
Kevin Kwan
Family
Father
Phone
" 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
" 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
English
Accent
Posh
" Even if they're not Asian or super rich... everyone has a nagging mother. Everyone has that obnoxious uncle, or that cousin who's a bit too snobby. "
Kevin Kwan
Mother
Asian
Everyone
" 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
Laugh
Beautiful
Water
" 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
" 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
Writer
Think
Face
" There are old-money Asians that would never be caught dead with a Chanel handbag or sporting anything that has a label it. "
Kevin Kwan
Caught
Never
Asians
" 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
" As a child, I could bike down the hill from my house and grab an ice-cold bottle of soda from the neighborhood grocer, which was nothing more than a corrugated metal shack run by two Indian men clad in sarongs. "
Kevin Kwan
Down
Men
Bike
" 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
Shoes
She
Clothes
" 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
Get Together
Together
Family
" I come from an old establishment family from Singapore. "
Kevin Kwan
Come
Family
Old
" 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
Special
Think
World
" If you're the water boiler king of China, you're selling a billion water boilers. "
Kevin Kwan
Water
China
King
" Growing up in Singapore, I wasn't allowed to visit China. So when I was finally able to go there after the country began opening up to tourism in the 1990s, I found it to be utterly astounding. "
Kevin Kwan
Growing Up
Opening
Growing
" I love romantic comedies more than anything. "
Kevin Kwan
Anything
Love
More
" When cultural movements happen, it's so beyond your control. "
Kevin Kwan
Control
Happen
Your
" 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
Shine
Growing Up
Life
" My grandparents were far more English in their manners than they were Chinese. For example, we spoke English at home, had afternoon tea every day, and my grandfather, who attended university in Scotland, would smoke his pipe after dinner. "
Kevin Kwan
Dinner
Tea
Smoke
" 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