Rich People Problems

I don’t think people ever realize what they’ve lost until it’s too late,” Rachel said.

Felicity chimed in. “Jesus said, ‘To grow rich is glorious.’ ”
“Actually, Deng Xiaoping, the late Communist leader of China, said that!”

In 2016, Gucci sent out warning letters about trademark infringement to several mom-and-pop shops in Hong Kong that were selling paper Gucci tomb offerings. After a backlash from Chinese shoppers and an avalanche of bad publicity, Gucci issued an apology

“Not just any arowana. This is Valentino, Mrs. Wu’s prized super red arowana. It was worth at least $175,000 and now it will be worth $250,000, minimum.”
“Why’s that?”
“I just took Valentino to his plastic surgeon. He was beginning to develop a droopy eye, so we gave him an eye lift. And he even got a very slight chin job. See how handsome he looks now?”
“There’s a plastic surgeon for fish?” Astrid asked incredulously

Do you know what that snob said to me? When I asked him what he did, he actually dared to say, ‘I’m a millionaire!’ ”
Araminta clutched Kitty’s arm and doubled over in laughter. Trying to catch her breath, she said, “No, no, you’re mistaken!”
Kitty continued her tirade, “So I said to him, ‘Well, I’m a billionaire!’ ”
Wiping the tears of laughter away from her eyes, Araminta explained. “Kitty, that man is Philip Treacy. He’s not a millionaire, he’s a milliner—a hat designer. I’m sure that’s what he told you.

Cathleen Kah Leong, the wife of Harry and Felicity Leong’s eldest son, Henry, takes great pride in her thrift. A partner at Singapore’s most esteemed law firm, she takes the public bus to work every day. A granddaughter of the late banking tycoon Kah Chin Kee, she uses a plastic bag from the local neighborhood gourmet grocers to transport her legal briefs when she could well afford to buy Goyard. (Not a nice Goyard leather tote bag—I mean Goyard, the company.)

“No, if you have a baby with a Caucasian man, you’re almost guaranteed it will be attractive. There’s a ninety-nine percent chance it will look like Keanu Reeves. That’s why so many Asian women are desperate to find white husbands.”

The literal meaning in Hokkien is “red hair,” but it’s a derogatory colloquial term used to describe anything of Western origin, since to many of Singapore’s older-generation Chinese, all Western people are considered ang mor kow sai—“redhaired dog shit.”

He glanced at his sleeve cuff, expecting to see a Patek, Vacheron, or Breguet, but was horrified to see an Apple Watch strapped to his wrist. Dear God, how the mighty had fallen!

“What do you mean ‘homeless’? There is no such thing as a homeless person in Singapore!”