Keeping up with the ‘China Rich’: Kevin Kwan coins a new buzzword for the insanely loaded
“There’s a frigging koi pond in the middle of this plane, Nick!”
That’s a line — and an image — I won’t soon forget. Kevin Kwan writes it in all-caps in chapter 14 of his second novel China Rich Girlfriend, in the voice of American-born “regular” girl Rachel Chu, who is seeing the inside of the Boeing 747-81 VIP for the first time. A koi pond. Inside a plane. You can’t make this stuff up. More than the scandalous ongoings in the world of the crazy rich, it’s the unbelievable extravagance detailed on every page that will keep you reading. It’s almost like being invisible, in a good way. You get to be the fly on the wall, a very privileged fly that listens in on the often hushed and juicy conversations of people more loaded than the Kardashians, and a lot more interesting. On the side, you’d learn about the Holy Trinity of Chinese restaurants in London, the Cantonese phrase for “so black-hearted,” a bit of trivia about the cheongsam, and Malay ghosts (his footnotes are equally entertaining).
Kwan’s first book Crazy Rich Asians, was our be-glittered window to the lives of affluent Asians whose shenanigans are not quite as documented as their Western counterparts. It was the first time pop culture has depicted Asian characters as something other than math geeks, hackers or scientists doing wacky things. And in this new, already-best-selling book, he gets a lot more specific and coins a new subculture that you, your friends, and this club might be talking about for some time: the China Rich. If you know, or know of, at least one, they would certainly pale in comparison to Kwan’s jetsetting, tea-sipping, Warhol-buying cast of characters. It’s all part of a funny, gossipy and fashionable trilogy inspired by a world he knows so well.
Kevin Kwan’s mother and five sisters are the original fashionistas of Singapore. He studied at Parsons School of Design and worked at Interview magazine.
I couldn’t ask Kwan if he himself is “crazy rich,” so I ask him what his family is like. “I would not call my family traditional Chinese. We were more what I would term the Colonial Chinese,” he says. “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. The family members who have read my books have enjoyed them immensely and they’ve been very supportive, although they do worry about my future and still hope that I’ll one day do something stable like go to law school.”
This explains insider perspective of the culture — this and the fact that he made several trips to China to bring authenticity to China Rich Girlfriend. “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,” he says. He has also been living in New York for a while now, where he’s encountered “quite a few” China Rich folks. “They are buying up the best neighborhoods of Manhattan just as they are other parts of the world!”
His comprehension of fashion, which goes beyond just labels and names but which labels and names are on the backs of the Hong Kong rich versus the Mainland rich, the wives versus the mistresses — comes from his mother and — get this — five sisters who he claims are the original fashionistas of Singapore. “As my mother would say, ‘I wasn’t just born to shop, I was conceived to shop.’ From a very early age, being the youngest in my family, I was always forced to tag along on all their shopping jaunts not just in Singapore but whenever they traveled. When I was older and living in New York, I went to Parsons School of Design, worked at Interview Magazine, and became further exposed to the world of high fashion,” he says.
So the rich are made in China
Chapter 2 of Crazy Rich Asians begins with a quote: “Nowhere in the world are there to be found people richer than the Chinese” — an ancient quote from a Moroccan philosopher that Kwan succinctly puts in two simple words that go together like dumplings and a good nap: China Rich.
“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. A friend of mine, for example, just told me of a shopping trip he made in Italy with several Chinese friends, where six people managed to drop 15 million euros in less than a week. The China Rich consumer is now the dominant consumer of luxury goods, and they’re only interested in acquiring the very best brands from Chanel and Hermes to Christian Dior and Patek Philippe. I think that this contrasts with the Southeast Asian rich, who are these days more focused on private luxuries that satisfy the way they live at home rather than purchasing big ticket items just for showing off,” he says.
Of course, we wouldn’t know about them. Not with Vanity Fair and Harper’s Bazaar posting all about Kylie Jenner all day, every day. “I’m not surprised that Americans have very little idea about this because the American media is so Western-centric,” he says. Kwan cites an example that I happened to have also told a friend a few months back: “When the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute Gala took place, all the magazines and websites showed off hundreds of pictures of American celebrities, but there was only one tiny group shot of Fan Bing Bing with a few other Chinese actresses. I found this to be so ironic considering that the theme of this year’s exhibition was ‘China Through the Looking Glass,’ and here were the biggest stars in the world getting so little press attention from the American media. Fan Bing Bing probably has more followers in China than every American celebrity combined!”
The Kwan-rich, of course, are far more outrageous than the real China Rich. They say and do things that we would only otherwise see on conceptual (read: fake) Twitter accounts. In the book, they’re the kind who wouldn’t be caught dead suffering the “indignity of flying commercial,” people who knock over caviar servers and almost staining a 9500 Euro Savionnerie rug with a million tiny black fish eggs. Though, no matter how ludicrous his portrayal of the China Rich, he goes on to defend them and say that it’s not true that all of them are vulgar and have no taste. “I’ve met many exquisitely well-mannered Chinese with extremely refined and educated tastes. There are also China Rich who really don’t care one bit about showing off their bling and are much more interested in spending their money on philanthropy or making sure their children get the best education possible.”
In one of his interviews, he’s said that criticism in Asian culture is a form of love (boy, how we know it!), but he explains that his books are not meant to call out any behavior — by way of his seemingly exaggerated portrayals. “I would have to say that none of that is done intentionally. I’m simply observing and documenting a certain strata of society for the amusement of my readers. I try to be careful about making any moral judgments either in my books — I leave that up to the reader.”
Crazy rich Filipinos, anyone?
Beyond the so-called glitz and glamor, Kwan’s books are made up of stories that seem relate to basic human emotions: jealousy, greed, loneliness, fear of getting caught. Maybe this is why it’s such a hit even for the non-crazy-rich and non-Chinese. It’s entertaining because it could be true. A private Boeing is not the Enterprise —it is entirely possible that a plane with a pond of fish right smack in the middle of it actually exists. Legend has it that some apartment in the middle of Manila has waterfalls for walls. That doesn’t sound so unlikely.
Of course, I have to ask him about Evangeline de Ayala — a Filipino socialite who had me at “switheart” during her brief appearance in the story. “Evangeline de Ayala is of course a completely fictional character. I wanted the new book to have a beautiful, elegant and cultured Filipina that came from an established family. To me, the “de Ayala” is name is synonymous with that, but I chose it also because the name sounds aristocratic and important to non-Filipinos, much like Rockefeller or Vanderbilt in the U.S. I actually don’t know all that much about the Pinoy rich — my experience is limited to my first trip to Manila over a decade ago to visit a good friend from college. It was my introduction to Philippine society—I had the time of my life and met so many lovely people. This same friend was the one who gave me the idea to use the word ‘switheart.” I thought it might give my Filipino readers a good laugh,’ Kwan says.
Kwan had just visited Palawan, which he says is his most recent splurge and luxury. Given that he could be meeting a lot of people during his visit to Manila, it seemed only right to find out what kind of Filipino rich he is hoping to meet. “I would really hope that one of them will have a private chef that could share with me a great recipe for garlic rice, because after the past few days in Palawan, I’m absolutely addicted to it!”
But who would play Rachel Chu?
Kwan’s first novel, Crazy Rich Asians, has been translated in 12 languages and is up for a movie adaptation in which he will be involved as executive producer. “I’ve seen lots of these dream casts and I find them all highly amusing. I think it would be really unfair of me as the author to suggest any actors names for the cast list — I really want to give every actor a chance, and I’m excited to see what will happen once auditions begin. Thankfully I don’t have to imagine any backlash if a non-Asian star is cast because that’s just never going to happen.”
“No one has personally come up to me and declared to be any one of my characters, but I’ve met so many readers that tell me they wish they were Rachel or Astrid or even in some cases Nicholas Young. On the other hand, when the producers of the Crazy Rich Asians movie went to Hong Kong and Singapore to begin scouting locations, they met so many socialites who all claimed to be the inspiration for Astrid!” he says.
Being onboard with production, Kwan is making it a point to keep the film as close to the book as possible. “I think the accents have to be right, and the environments and locations have to look extremely authentic to how they are described in the book. Viewers really have to feel like they’re truly being transported into this world of divine, jaw-dropping opulence — the houses, the costumes, the jewelry, the cars, and especially the food have to be absolutely perfect.”
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Kevin Kwan will be in Manila for his “Crazy Rich, China Rich” book tour on Aug. 15 and 16 at Fully Booked Bonifacio Global City and Alabang, respectively.
