KEVIN Kwan, the author behind international best-sellers Crazy Rich Asians, China Rich Girlfriend, and his most recent one Rich People Problems, visited Cebu City for a book signing event held on Aug. 27 in the City Wing of SM Seaside City Cebu.
Apart from the book signing, Kevin promoted his third book of the Crazy Rich trilogy, Rich People Problems.
Known for its hilarious and bubbly stories about the uberwealthy, the trilogy gives its readers an insight into the world of Asia’s elite and all the drama that comes with it.
A press gathering was held at SM Seaside City’s Sky Hall last Aug. 26 where the city’s media had the chance to interview the novelist about his works, his writing process, his visit to the Philippines and what else is in the works.
“When I first began writing it (the first book), I was really trying to write from a place of memory, inspiration and truth. And a lot of it is inspired by my childhood in Singapore so naturally there would be a lot of Singaporeans. But because a lot of my relatives moved to Hong Kong, Thailand, Australia, I’ve had the chance to travel to those places so everyone’s all over Asia. So there was a natural diversity that happened,” shared the author.
But is it based on his life?
“No, definitely not. I’m not Nicholas Young (one of the main characters of the trilogy)—although I wish I was,” he joked.
Of the three books, his recent one is currently his favorite as it is the freshest on his mind, which he wrote in eight months.
“For the first two books, I actually created a system that was very rigid. I would only write in the corner of my living room in New York. My desk was set up in the corner of my living room and I wrote there and I had a very disciplined schedule. For the last book, most recently, I actually began writing it on my laptop which was new for me. And then I ventured into new cafés. After writing two books sitting in the corner in the living room, I needed to venture out. And I found to my surprise that I could write in a café with lots of things happening,” Kevin said.
When asked which among the three was the hardest to write, he said it was the second book China Rich Girlfriend as he was a tad unfamiliar with China. Born and raised in Singapore, he currently resides in Manhattan, New York in the United States.
“Singapore, Hong Kong, other parts of the world I’m so familiar with the cultures there, with the societies there. China was a closed culture until 20 years ago. I didn’t start going until the last 10, 15 years, so it’s not a second home to me in the way that Hong Kong and Singapore are. So, it was harder to infiltrate that world,” he said.
When it comes to doing research for his books, travel is his go-to.
“I go everywhere that I write about in my books. There’s not a place or space or anything that I have not myself seen or breathed the air in. That’s my research: travel,” as he told the press of his visit to Palawan, among other locations.
Knowing that his first visit to the country dates back to 1997, he was asked how different it was compared to his visit back in 2015.
“Such a vast difference, I can’t even tell you! The first time I was here, I was hosted by some friends—it was my college days—so we never saw the sunlight. We went clubbing. We were going into parties. There were all these bands that we went to listen to that my friends were friends with. It was so much fun back in those days. We went clubbing from 12 to five in the morning and we would sleep all day,” Kevin said.
“In 2015, I saw the sunlight a lot,” he said chuckling. “I really got to see the country a lot more. I got to visit Palawan and really spend more time with different people versus just this fun—very fun, very nice—party crowd.”
With his debut novel being adapted into a film as well as the rave reviews that keep on coming, one of the members of the media asked if he ever anticipated this much popularity and success.
“No, I never expected to ever make it to this point. This is really beyond my wildest dreams and I feel really lucky. I think it could have happened to so many authors writing today but it was just a matter of timing. I often wonder if I did the first book 10 years ago, would it have been as successful? I don’t know. And that’s what I thought, so I feel very lucky.”
“I just really hope to entertain people. I hope people laugh, it brings them joy and I hope it makes them think and really decide for themselves what they want to take away from that whether money is worth the price,” he added.
Kevin Kwan is currently working on a television drama, as well as a whole new book. The media gathering and book signing events were organized by National Book Store in partnership with SM Seaside City Cebu and Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa Cebu.