At least when it comes to food, there's no snobbery in Singapore. Kevin Kwan More Quotes by Kevin Kwan More Quotes From Kevin Kwan One of the dreams on my wish list is to spend more time in Thailand. Kevin Kwan more dreams wish time 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 think me you style 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. Kevin Kwan medical family work school Warner Bros. is just this amazing historic studio that does great movies. Kevin Kwan movies amazing just great 'China rich' is the new 'crazy rich.' It's a new level of outrageousness. It comes from this world where overnight fortunes have been made, but the fortunes are so ginormous compared to anything we've ever seen in the history of the world. Kevin Kwan rich crazy history world No matter our background, we all have crazy families. Kevin Kwan background our crazy matter There's so much emphasis on the economic might of China, of Southeast Asia, Asian 'Super Tigers' and things like that. But nobody was really looking from the perspective of a family story, of these individuals. Kevin Kwan nobody looking perspective family 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. Kevin Kwan born dad enough love 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 family politics together To me, families are fascinating. I choose to explore it through comedy and through comic situations. Kevin Kwan explore choose me comedy 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 day dinner home tea 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 amazing moment war world 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 new cool village I was born in Singapore, and I lived there until I was 12. I had a very fortunate upbringing. Kevin Kwan i-was-born singapore fortunate born I'm not revealing any deep, hidden secret that there are wealthy people in Asia. Kevin Kwan deep hidden secret people 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 paris shoes grandmother 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 side money different world 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 live want believe world I've recently rediscovered Anthony Trollope. I used to read him back in college, and a friend turned me on to a whole new series of his work, 'The Palliser Series.' It's a series of seven or eight books. Kevin Kwan friend new me work There's always been this tradition of satirizing these rich groups of people. Kevin Kwan always rich tradition people
