''Rich People Problems'' is a satirical 2017 romantic comedy novel by
Kevin Kwan
Kevin Kwan (born ) is a Singapore-born American novelist and writer of satirical novels ''Crazy Rich Asians'', ''China Rich Girlfriend'', and '' Rich People Problems''. His latest book, '' Sex and Vanity'', was released in June 2020.
In 2014, ...
. It is the third and final novel in Kwan's "Crazy Rich..." trilogy that looks at the rich and powerful families of Singapore. The plot revolves around the three clans descending upon Shang Su Yi's deathbed to attempt to be included in her will, as she is extremely wealthy. The novel was preceded by the bestsellers ''
Crazy Rich Asians
''Crazy Rich Asians'' is a satirical 2013 romantic comedy novel by Kevin Kwan. Kwan stated that his intention in writing the novel was to "introduce a contemporary Asia to a North American audience". He claimed the novel was loosely based on h ...
'' in 2013 and ''
China Rich Girlfriend'' in 2015. Two follow ups to the ''Crazy Rich Asians'' film are in development, based on ''China Rich Girlfriend'' and ''Rich People Problems''.
Plot
In 2015, two years after the events that take place in ''China Rich Girlfriend'', Nick and Rachel Young (née Chu), an economics professor at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
(NYU), are happily married and living their life in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. Nick is informed by his mother Eleanor that his grandmother, Su Yi, has had a heart attack, and that he must come home to reconcile with her before she dies. While Nick wants to make up with his grandmother out of guilt for having shut her out of his life for marrying Rachel (as Su Yi was opposed to the marriage), his mother wants him to make amends so that he will be re-introduced into the will and inherit
Tyersall Park
Tyersall Park is an estate in Singapore, bound by Holland Road and Tyersall Avenue, and near the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Previously a private land belonging to the Sultan of Johor from 1862, some portions of it had been acquired by the Gov ...
, Su Yi's home. The extended Shang-Young clan has descended upon Tyersall Park to say their last goodbyes with the hopes of getting into Su Yi's good graces and inheriting part of her fortune.
Nicholas is initially prevented from seeing Su Yi due to scheming from his cousin, Eddie Cheng, who believes he has a shot at inheriting his grandmother's estate. Eddie lies and convinces the entire family and house staff that Su Yi does not wish to see Nick while she is on her deathbed. With the help of the head of security, the head maid (who overheard Eddie's plotting) and Astrid, Nick is able to sneak into Tyersall Park and speak with his grandmother while she is in a cardiac intensive care unit in her bedroom. She is happy to see him and they make amends. Meanwhile, Astrid, Nick's cousin, becomes engaged again to Charlie Wu. Her relationship with Charlie faces obstacles from Charlie's scorned ex-wife Isabel Wu and Astrid's soon-to-be ex-husband Michael Teo.
Su Yi dies and everyone prepares for her funeral. During the funeral, Astrid receives a grainy video from Michael depicting her and Charlie having sex in Charlie's bedroom, with a threat of releasing the video unless he is given 5 billion dollars in their divorce settlement. In Su Yi's will, she leaves a share of Tyersall Park to each of her four daughters (Alexandra, Felicity, Victoria, and Catherine) and her son (Phillip, Nick's father) along with a share to Nick and his cousin (and Eddie's brother) Alistair Cheng. Upon the reading of the will, Eddie is humiliated to be left with nothing except his grandfather's antique sapphire cuff links. Astrid inherits Su Yi's fashionable dresses and jewelry. Jacqueline, Su Yi's goddaughter, inherits her shares at Ling Holdings, making her a wealthy woman and angering the family, who expected to inherit some of those shares, and now only have Tyersall Park.
Returning to Tyersall Park, Eddie furiously confronts Fiona for humiliating him by not telling him about the contents of the will, and ruining their family's opportunity to live in luxury. Fiona claims that she respected Su Yi's privacy and that she only picked up the pen to sign the paper as a witness. Eddie ends up curled up in a ball, crying, with Fiona comforting him. The family initially agrees to sell Tyersall Park to Jack Bing, to be used by his new wife Kitty, the former Hong Kong soap actress (and Alistair's former fiancée), for 10 billion dollars, because there are no funds to maintain it. Nick cannot bring himself to let Tyersall Park go, and so he attempts to buy out the shares owned by his four aunts, with his father signing over his portion directly to Nick. However, he is not able to raise the money to do this.
Isabel suffers a psychotic breakdown and in a fit of rage releases the damning video of Charlie and Astrid, revealing her involvement in helping Michael blackmail Astrid. She attempts to commit suicide and taint Charlie and Astrid's new house by hanging herself from a chandler.
Astrid is shunned by her family and retreats into seclusion, not even telling Charlie where she went. He goes to great lengths to track her down, eventually finding her on an island in the Philippines. He reveals to her that he has gotten Michael to sign off on their divorce without any challenge by threatening to have him prosecuted for illegal surveillance of Astrid and blackmail. He tells her that though Isabel survived her suicide attempt and is now in stable condition, her family had found out that she was involved in blackmailing Astrid with Michael and that she will face humiliation of her own. Astrid says that she wants to stay and to bring her son Cassian to live with the people on the island. Charlie is willing to let her have the life she wants but wants to know if there is any room for him.
Nick takes a trip to visit an elderly Thai prince, based on a note left to him by his grandmother, thinking that this is the key to the funding to buy Tyersall Park. However he learns that this Prince was his grandmother's first love, and Aunt Catherine's biological father. Nick also learns that during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Su Yi aided in the resistance effort against the
Japanese occupation of Singapore
, officially , was the name for Singapore when it was occupied and ruled by the Empire of Japan, following the fall and surrender of British military forces on 15 February 1942 during World War II.
Japanese military forces occupied it after ...
by providing Tyersall Park as a safe haven for many Chinese and British agents working against the Japanese. Nick then tries to block the sale of Tyersall Park by claiming that it is a historic site. Rachel and Nick bring together Nick's friends Colin and Araminta Khoo, Rachel's friend Goh Peik Lin, and Alistair to buy Tyersall Park and turn it into the Tyersall Museum and Hotel. Kitty completes the deal by becoming a secret investor in their group in order to spite Jack, who had decided to buy Tyersall Park for Colette (his daughter) instead of Kitty.
One year later, Peik Lin is marrying Alistair, with Nick and Rachel serving as best man and maid of honor. After years of trying to conceive, Araminta and Colin now have a two-month-old son. Eddie finally changes his ways after Fiona convinces him to seek help and he goes to a therapist. Astrid continues to live on the island with Charlie and has started designing her own clothes. She does not wish to get married yet, instead preferring to live "a life of sin" with Charlie and enjoys the fact that this very much bothers her parents. Rachel reveals to Nick that she is six weeks pregnant. They both jokingly agree to not tell Nick's mother about the news, agreeing to wait at least until their child is 21.
Writing
Kwan has said that this book was actually the first he had mapped out when he was first planning his trilogy.
Characters
* Rachel Young (née Chu): Married to Nick Young. A Chinese-American woman who is an economics professor at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
.
* Nicholas "Nick" Young: Rachel's husband who is a history professor, also at New York University. He currently lives with Rachel in New York City, but is originally from Singapore and hails from a rich and powerful family.
* Eleanor Young (née Sung): Nick's controlling mother, who schemes for her son to inherit her mother-in-law's great estate, Tyersall Park.
* Astrid Leong: Nick's fashionable cousin whose reputation is put on the line due to her affair with her later fiancé, Charlie Wu.
* Peik Lin Cheng (née Goh Peik Lin): Rachel's rich Singaporean best friend from college, who later marries Nick's cousin Alistair.
* Araminta Khoo (née Lee): The wealthy heiress wife of Nick's best friend, the billionaire Colin Khoo, who just had a miscarriage.
* Edison "Eddie" Cheng: Nick's cousin who's very eager to inherit Tyersall Park. Eddie is ambitious and wants to prove to everyone who matters that he can live a lavish lifestyle, yet his personal philosophy clashes with his parents who live a simple and modest life from their wealth. He is later humiliated upon the reading of Su-Yi's will which left him out of the Tyersall Park shares that not only went to his mother, his aunts and uncle, but also Nick and Alistair.
* Fiona Cheng (née Tung) : Eddie's wife who comes from Hong Kong old money. She is one of the witnesses to Shang Su Yi's will.
* Alistair Cheng: Eddie's younger brother who is involved in Hong Kong's movie business. He is later married to Rachel's best friend, Peik Lin. Su-Yi left him a share in Tyersall Park
*
Tan Sri
The Malay language has a complex system of styles, titles and honorifics which are used extensively in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the southern Philippines.
Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and several provinces in Indonesia regul ...
Harry Leong and
Puan Sri Felicity Leong (née Young): The extremely wealthy, powerful, and controlling parents of Astrid, Alexander, Henry Jr., and Peter. They blame Astrid for the sex tape scandal and force her to leave Singapore until it dies down.
* Alexandra "Alix" Cheng (née Young): Mother of Eddie, Alistair, and Cecilia, married to Dr. Malcolm Cheng. Eddie resents them for not flaunting their wealth enough.
* Oliver T'sien: Nick's cousin who also works as Kitty's art consultant and buyer. His family has apparently lost most of their money in the
Barings Bank collapse, and he keeps it a secret from his wealthier Shang-Young relatives.
* Cassandra Shang: Nick's gossipy second cousin who seems to know everything about everyone, earning her the nickname "Radio One Asia".
* Jacqueline Ling: Shang Su Yi's youthful goddaughter, daughter of a wealthy, old-moneyed philanthropist and currently the partner of a Norwegian billionaire. She apparently inherits a huge amount of shares from the Ling family's company that was given to Shang Su Yi during a
mahjong
Mahjong or mah-jongg (English pronunciation: ) is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is commonly played by four players (with some three-play ...
game, and now is worth half a billion dollars.
* Kitty Bing (formerly Kitty Pong, née Pong Li Li): The new jet-setting wife of China's second richest man, billionaire Jack Bing. She always feels upstaged by her stepdaughter, Colette, both in her husband's attention and her high society life. Thanks to investing her entire divorce settlement from her previous husband in
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
, she manages to become the secret investor in keeping Tyersall Park from being sold to Jack (and Colette).
*
Datin
Datin was an oracular deity also associated with oaths and justice worshipped in pre- Islamic northern Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "I ...
Carol Tai: A devout Christian who is the widow of a corrupt billionaire, the late
Dato'
Datuk (or its variant Dato or Datu) is a Malay title commonly used in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as a traditional title by Minangkabau people in West Sumatra, Indonesia.
The title of the wife of Datuk is Datin.
Origin
The oldes ...
Tai Toh Lui. She is on good terms with her ex daughter-in-law, Kitty, despite the fact that Kitty later divorced her son.
* Shang Su Yi, Lady Young: Nick's powerful, and now dying grandmother who lives in her great estate, Tyersall Park. Nick and Su Yi were very close throughout Nick's childhood, but when Su Yi discovers in ''Crazy Rich Asians'' that Nick's girlfriend Rachel is not wealthy, she disowns him and this drives a wedge between the two. She later reconciles with Nick after learning that Rachel is not the gold digger that she thought Rachel was and that her father is a Chinese billionaire.
* Alfred Shang: Shang Su Yi's powerful younger brother who lives in his great estate in
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
.
* Victoria Young: One of Nick's aunts, she is Shang Su Yi's unmarried daughter.
* Catherine Aakara (née Young): Nick's aunt who married into
Thai royalty. She is herself the secret love child of Shang Su Yi and a Thai prince.
* Michael Teo: Astrid's scorned soon-to-be ex-husband, a tech billionaire who plots revenge on Astrid by ruining her reputation. In the second book, Michael's start-up tech company became a huge success but this was secretly due to Charlie investing in the company as a means of helping his former love Astrid save her marriage. He was falsely believed to be having an affair with another woman in Shanghai in ''Crazy Rich Asians''. He later accepts a $10 million bribe from Charlie to leave Singapore and Astrid alone in exchange for him never exposing his illegal surveillance to the authorities and her wealthy family.
* Charlie Wu: Astrid's tech billionaire ex-boyfriend, later fiancé, who finally gets back together with her, despite their obstacles.
* Isabel Wu (née Lai): Charlie's scorned ex-wife who suddenly shows up in Singapore to ruin Astrid's reputation. After feigning a suicide attempt, her family discovers Isabel's involvement with Michael from Charlie and spurns her for embarrassing them.
* Colette Bing,
Countess
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility.L. G. Pine, Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty'' ...
of Palliser: Kitty's stepdaughter who seems to have changed a great deal from her old ways since her video scandal from the previous book, an event which led her to exile in England. She is now married to environmental lawyer Lucien Plantagenet Montagu-Scott,
Earl
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...
of Palliser, who is himself the son of England's fifth-largest landowner, the
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
of Glencora, and a wealthy French noblewoman.
* Jack Bing: Kitty's new billionaire husband, the second (or third, fourth, seventh, depending on the tabloid doing the ranking) richest man in China. He gives an enormous divorce settlement to his ex-wife and trust fund to his daughter, Colette, despite having claimed that he cut her off due to her video scandal, both of which bother Kitty a great deal.
* Carlton Bao: Rachel's sports car-collecting, Oxford educated,
Fuerdai
Fuerdai (; ) is a Chinese term for the children of the ''nouveau riche'' in China. This term, generally considered pejorative, is often invoked in the Chinese media and everyday discussions in mainland China as it incorporates some of the soci ...
half-brother, who used to date Colette. He accompanied Rachel on her way to Tyersall Park in order for her to be with Nick during Su Yi's funeral. He later tried to serenade Scheherazade Shang, and both of them are known dating in the epilogue.
* Scheherazade Shang: Alistair, Nick, Astrid, and Eddie's beautiful Eurasian cousin who studies at the
Sorbonne
Sorbonne may refer to:
* Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities.
*the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970)
*one of its components or linked institution, ...
and is also Carlton's new love interest. She has been pursued by high-profile men like
Prince Harry
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger son of Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. He is fifth in the line of succ ...
, but without success. She and Carlton are known dating in the epilogue.
* Wandi Meggaharto Widjawa: One of Kitty's new jet-setting socialite friends. She is the daughter of a wealthy, aristocratic
Chinese-Indonesian
Chinese Indonesians ( id, Orang Tionghoa Indonesia) and colloquially Chindo or just Tionghoa are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries.
Chinese people and their Indonesian descendants have l ...
oligarch.
*Philip Young: Nicholas Young's father, and Eleanor's husband. Son of Shang Su Yi to Sir James Young; also, has forgiven Eleanor for her mistake a long time ago.
Reception
The novel received positive reviews and was noted by ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' to be "a memorable, laugh-out-loud Asian glitz fest that’s a pure pleasure to read".
Film adaptation
''Time'' reported on August 15, 2018 that Kwan has been tasked with developing the sequel to
''Crazy Rich Asians'' from his two follow-up novels including ''China Rich Girlfriend'' and ''Rich People Problems''.
[ (physically published in August 27, 2018 issue; digitally published on August 15)] The planning was still in pre-production concerning the back-to-back filming of both sequels following ''Crazy Rich Asians'' as of August 2018, though several of the key actors are committed to other projects until 2020.
Awkwafina
Nora Lum (born June 2, 1988), known professionally as Awkwafina, is an American actress, rapper, and comedian who rose to prominence in 2012 when her rap song "My Vag" became popular on YouTube. She then released her debut album, ''Yellow Ran ...
was interviewed in January 2019 and indicated that there were still no scripts for the sequel and that production filming had not started. According to ''Town and Country'' magazine, the filming and premiere of the film is not scheduled to take place until 2020. According to a Slash film journal article, the two sequels, including ''Rich People Problems'', will be shot
back-to-back
Back to Back or back-to-back may refer to:
Music Songs
* "Back to Back" (Drake song), 2015
* "Back to Back" (Jeanne Pruett song), 1979
*"Back to Back", a song by Pretty Maids from the 1984 album ''Red Hot and Heavy''
*"Back to Back", a song by ...
in 2020 once the filming commences.
["''Crazy Rich Asians'' Sequels to Shoot Back-to-Back", December 7th, 2018, by Hoai-Tran Bui, Slash films journal]
See also
*
Chinese in New York City
The New York metropolitan area is home to the largest and most prominent ethnic Chinese population outside of Asia, hosting Chinese populations representing all 34 provincial-level administrative units of China. The Chinese American population ...
*
Overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese.
Terminology
() or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, refe ...
*
Chinese Singaporeans
Chinese Singaporeans () are Singaporeans of Chinese descent. Chinese Singaporeans constitute 75.9% of the Singaporean citizen population according to the official census, making them the largest ethnic group among them.
As early as the 10th ...
*
''Crazy Rich Asians'' (film)
References
{{Kevin Kwan
2017 American novels
Chick lit novels
Novels set in Singapore
Sequel novels
Anchor Books books