In introducing readers to contemporary Singapore, Crazy Rich Asians paints the relationship between Asia and both Europe and America as somewhat fraught: while most (if not all) of the characters embrace European fashion, art, and social conventions to signal their wealth and sophistication, traditional, conservative Chinese social culture is still a powerful force—at least when it suits. For instance, Rachel attends a party at Tyersall Park (an English-style manor decorated in both traditional Singaporean and Art Deco styles) and encounters fashionable women in Chanel suits, expensive Indian saris, and traditional Chinese cheongsams. But while it’s framed as up to the individual what style of dress to don for a party, plenty of women in the novel scorn western social mores in favor of more traditional and conservative Chinese culture, at least when Chinese culture helps justify beliefs that would otherwise be seen as outdated or rude. Thus, Rachel is considered an inappropriate match for Nick for a variety of reasons, not least because she’s American and is thus supposedly uncouth, overeducated, and scheming. In addition, Rachel is also not from a wealthy, known family. “Good” Chinese girls, per Eleanor and her friends, are modest, demure, and have impeccable bloodlines—at least, that is, when such qualities suit the older generation’s goals for their children. What’s more, most mothers in the novel (like Eleanor) want their sons to have the best start in life, so those sons attend college abroad—and then almost inevitably, the novel suggests, those mothers lament that their sons are “too Westernized” after being educated in England. Thus, Crazy Rich Asians presents a person’s culture not just as how a person identifies (as Singaporean, American, and so on), but as a set of beliefs and customs that can change in an instant to suit a person’s needs.
Related Themes from Other Texts
Chinese vs. Western Culture ThemeTracker
Chinese vs. Western Culture Quotes in Crazy Rich Asians
“Well, first of all, you must understand that there are two kinds of Chinese. There are the Chinese from Mainland China, who made their fortunes in the past decade like all the Russians, but then there are the Overseas Chinese. These are the ones who left China long before the Communists came in, in many cases hundreds of years ago, and spread throughout the rest of Asia, quietly amassing great fortunes over time. [...]”
His wife cut in. “Let me just say this: We visited Astrid’s family a few years ago. You can’t imagine how staggeringly rich these people are, Marie-Hélène. The houses, the servants, the style in which they live. It makes the Arnaults look like peasants.”
“Don’t you know? It’s the wedding of the year! It’s been covered on every channel, in every magazine, and in about a million blogs!”
“Why? Are they famous?” Rachel asked, completely baffled.
“AH-LA-MAAAK! Colin Khoo is Khoo Teck Fong’s grandson! He comes from one of the reeee-chest families in the world! And Araminta Lee—she’s the supa-model daughter of Peter Lee, one of China’s reeee-chest men, and Annabel Lee, the hotel queen. This is like royal weddeeeng!” Neena gushed.
“I had no idea,” Rachel said in astonishment. “I just met them last night.”
“No, no porridge for me. Can I have some toast with marmalade?”
The maid did not appear to understand Eleanor’s attempt at Mandarin.
Lorena finished her call, flipped off her phone, and said, “Aiyah, Eleanor, you’re in China. At least try some of this delicious porridge.”
“Sorry, I can’t eat fish first thing in the morning—I’m used to my morning toast,” Eleanor insisted.
“Look at you! You complain your son is too Westernized, and yet you can’t even enjoy a typical Chinese breakfast.”
“Did you see what she was wearing? Where did she get that cheap-looking tunic top—Mango?”
“How can you expect her to have any style? Think she gets it from reading American Vogue? Hahaha.”
“Actually, Francesca says that she’s not even ABC—she was born in Mainland China.”
“I knew it! She’s got that same desperate look all my servants have.”
“Well here’s a chance for her to get some decent clothes at last!”
“Just you watch, with all that Young money she’s going to upgrade pretty damn quick.”
“We’ll see—all the money in the world can’t buy taste if you weren’t born with it.”
“To be completely honest, Nick is the first guy I’ve dated who I could imagine being married to. But I was never raised to believe that marriage supposed to be my life’s goal. My mother wanted me to get the best education first. She never wanted me to end up having to wash dishes in a restaurant.”
“That’s not the case over here. No matter how advanced we’ve become, there’s still tremendous pressure for girls to get married. Here, it doesn’t matter how successful a woman is professionally. She isn’t considered complete until she is married and has children. Why do you think Araminta is so eager to get married?”
His father had come to Singapore as a fourteen-year-old laborer and built a construction business out of sheer sweat and tenacity, and as their family business blossomed over the decades into a far-flung empire, Wye Mun thought that he had leveled the playing field. Singapore was a meritocracy, and whoever performed well was invited into the winner’s circle. But those people—those people behind the gates were a sudden reminder that this was not entirely the case.
“This is the first time you have been serious with a Chinese man. There is so much you don’t know about the proper etiquette with these families.”
“I didn’t realize you could be so old-fashioned,” Rachel teased. “Besides, Nick’s family doesn’t seem really Chinese at all. They seem more British if anything.”
“It doesn’t matter. You are Chinese, and you still need to behave like a properly brought-up Chinese girl,” Kerry said.
“You said the same thing six years ago when you wanted to remain in England after your studies. And now you’re in America. What’s next, Australia, like your father? It was a mistake to send you abroad in the first place. You have become far too seduced by Western ways.” Rachel couldn’t help noting the irony in what Nick’s grandmother was saying. She looked and sounded like a Chinese woman in the most traditional sense, and yet here they were in a walled garden straight out of the Loire Valley having English afternoon tea.
“I don’t know what planet you’re living on, but things are not ‘just fine.’ Nicky is going to propose to this girl any minute now. What was the whole point of my sending you to New York? You had one simple mission to accomplish, and you failed miserably.”
“You have no appreciation for what I’ve accomplished for myself. I’m part of New York society now,” Amanda proudly declared.
“Who gives a damn about that? You think anyone here is impressed to see pictures of you in Town & Country?”
She walked down the aisle on her father’s arm in a classically inspired wedding dress designed by Valentino, whom she lured out of retirement to make precisely the sort of gown that generations of European princesses had gotten married in, the sort of gown that would make her look every inch the proper young wife from a very traditional, old-money Asian family.
“Aiyah, she’s just a pretty girl that Nicky’s having fun with.” Su Yi laughed, as if the idea of him marrying Rachel was too ridiculous to even consider.
“That’s not the way it looks to me,” Alexandra warned.
“Nonsense. Nicky has no intentions with this girl—he told me so himself. And besides, he would never do anything without my permission. Alistair simply needs to obey your wishes,” Su Yi said with finality.
“You’re telling me one thing, but then I hear other people speaking as if the entire economy of Asia revolves around your family, and you’re, like, the heir to the throne. I’m an economist, for crying out loud, and if I’m going to be accused of being a gold digger, I’d like to know what I’m supposedly digging for,” Rachel said bluntly.
“I want them to love their family, but to feel a deeper sense of pride in who they are as individuals, Nick, not in how much money they have, what their last name is, or how many generations they go back to whatever dynasty. I’m sorry, but I’ve had enough. I’ve had enough of being around all these crazy rich Asians, all these people whose lives revolve around making money, spending money, flaunting money, comparing money, hiding money, controlling others with money, and ruining their lives over money. And if I marry you, there will be no escaping it, even if we live on the other side of the world.”
“I know my mother-in-law never truly approved of me, so I even got out of the way. I moved out of Tyersall Park so there wouldn’t be two competing Mrs. Youngs. I always let her come first in Nicky’s life, and because of this he’s been closer to her. But I accepted that. It was for his own good. He deserves to be the heir to her fortune, the heir to Tyersall Park, but he no longer seems to care. He would rather be a bloody English professor. Hiyah, I always knew sending him to England would be a mistake.”
