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MANILA, Philippines – Yoga studios on private jets, snapping up millions in couture, and a fleet of servants to attend to your every whim – this is the world brought to life in rich (pun intended) detail in Crazy Rich Asians and its sequel, China Rich Girlfriend.
Author Kevin Kwan drew inspiration from this universe, presenting the interweaving stories of Singapore’s ultra-rich. Kevin himself grew up in Singapore before moving to the US at 11. In Manila on a promotional tour, he talked to Rappler about the books’ overwhelming success, the real life inspirations behind the story, and gave us an update on the upcoming movie.
“I was in a bubble as a child. It was only after I left [Singapore] I realized that it was kind of normal and yet it was abnormal at the same time,” Kevin told Rappler. “We would go to dinner and the Prime Minsister would be there. You know as a kid you don’t really understand what’s happening and how important some people are that you’re related to.
“But then only after you leave or when you’re older do you realize that oh wow, it special, it was kind of privileged in a way. But was there crazy bling? No, not really, no,” he clarified.
Kevin is a lot more down-to-earth than the extravagant characters he describes in his books. And he didn’t exactly follow the traditional path described there, either, choosing to study creative writing. “From my extended family, there is still puzzlement as like, ‘What exactly does Kevin really do? Kevin’s been unemplyed for the last 20 years,’ you know what I mean? And even now I’ve written a book, there’s no recognition, they don’t get it. I’m still the loser cousin, you know?” he jokes.
But Kevin’s parents, he said, don’t subscribe to the stereotypical “Asian” directive that, as described in Crazy Rich Asians, “the only acceptable majors [in college] were medicine or law.” “My parents were very different from the parents of their generation. They didn’t really place much of a pressure or expection on what their kids should be doing,” he said.
His creativity, he said, was nurtured by his father, who was a “creatively frustrated person” because he trained and wanted to be an architect but ended up being an engineer.
Kevin is even the executive producer of the Crazy Rich Asians movie currently in the works. “The script is amazing,” Kevin said, of the work of Keith Bunin. “I read it and it almost brought tears to my eyes, because it’s so strange to see your book be translated into dialogue and scene settings and setups… and it was so interesting to see what choices the screenwriters did.”
Hearing the dialogue in the movie is definitely something to look forward to, as the conversations heard in Kevin’s books can be pretty outrageous. In one scene, for example, Nick’s mother, Eleanor Young is gossiping about her son Nick’s girlfriend Rachel with her Bible study group: “Daisy, if you tell me she’s from Mainland China, I think I’ll have a stroke.” The line is followed by a conversation about “Taiwanese tornadoes” who swoop men off their feet only to take all their money and leave.
“There are so many things in the book that are taken straight from things I have overheard,” Kevin shares. In fact, most of the things Eleanor and her friends say are taken straight out of real life conversations. “And there are so many things I couldn’t say because they would be way too outrageous for a sensitive reading audience,” he adds.
Aside from the difference in language, Kevin’s books also touch on the differences between how the older and younger set handle their money and go about their lives. “I think there’s a huge – not just generation, but culture gap and understanding gap but it’s much more pronounced in China these days,” he says. Many Chinese kids who are sent abroad to study nowadays and come home with a completely different idea of what life should be about.
Crazy Rich Asians and China Rich Girlfriend don’t only talk about the Chinese though – Kevin said that he wanted to represent Asia in all his books. Evangeline de Ayala was born, a socialite and a Crazy Rich Filipino, who appears briefly in China Rich Girlfriend. Malaysians and Indonesians make appearances in his books as well.
Kevin does write about the excessive lives of the moneyed elite all across Asia – but the characters are also fleshed out in great details, their motivations, fears, and strengths laid bare. Kevin is well aware that he’s also helping to bring in a whole new slew of Asian characters, completely different to how they are usually portrayed, especially in Western media, through both the book and the movie.
“You know I only hope that it thas a positive impact and it really helps to change the perception and change the stereotypes of how Asians are portrayed in the West. But really this movie isn’t made just for the West, it’s really made for an international audience, and Asia’s a big part of that. So we want to make sure our Asian veiwers are happy first and foremost,” he said.
Catch Kevin at his book signing event this weekend. He’ll be at @_fullybooked BGC on August 15 and Fully Booked Alabang on August 16, from 2 pm to 6 on both days. – Rappler.com
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