And the five other things to consider when translating Kevin Kwan’s China Rich Girlfriend to the big screen Bok bok, bitch! There will be a sequel. Or likely, a trilogy. After all, Crazy Rich Asians has proven worthy of all the attention it’s been getting: US$35 million in ticket sales within the first five days of release with its 'gold open' social media campaign. That means that Kelvin Kwan’s second and third follow-ups, namely China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems will be hitting the big screens: Warner Bros. just has to give the official greenlight after the scripts are ready. Director Jon M. Chu and stars Constance Wu and Henry Golding all plan to return.  Since the scripts will be in the works soon, here’s what we suggest:

1. Get your character names right

Tatler Asia

An eagle-eyed fan spotted a mistake in the end credits, and again in IMBD—Gemma Chan’s character is Astrid Leong Teo, not Astrid Young Teo. Her mother is Felicity Young (played by Janice Koh) and her father is Harry Leong. Erm, Kevin Kwan, did you not vet this?

2. Better ensembles for Astrid, please

Tatler Asia

Since we’re talking about Astrid, let’s discuss her impeccable style in the novel. After all she “was the first to pair a vintage Saint Laurent Le Smoking jacket with three-dollar batik shorts bought off a beach vendor in Bali, the first to wear the Antwerp Six, the first to bring home a pair of red-heeled stilettos from some Parisian shoemaker named Christian.” While her jewellery was spot-on, her outfits barely exuded sartorial finesse that she is supposed to have, especially not that pink McQueen gown she wore to the wedding. Need inspo? Come talk to us.

3. Include more Singlish

Tatler Asia

While the 'ku ku jiao' chant during the bachelor party was truly, truly…. momentous, many of the cast members said that they wanted to inject more Singlish into their lines, but had to tone it down eventually. Come on, lah.

4. Yup, show us more diversity

Tatler Asia

We can’t agree more about the lack of Singapore’s minority races in this film. We know it’s hard to please everyone, but let’s rethink the glaring misrepresentation while scripting the Singapore scenes in China Rich Girlfriend, okay? 

5. Keep the fearless, strong women in the foreground

Tatler Asia

The pivotal mahjong scene between Eleanor Young and Rachel Chu that wasn’t in the book? Brilliant. It was nuanced, symbolic and cleverly executed. We heard it was partly Michelle Yeoh’s idea. Bravo! Is it the new fight scene for women? We'd like to think so.

6. What about including Singaporean fashion labels too?

Tatler Asia

Constance Lau (aka #RadioOneAsia) was indisputably best-dressed in both her Time Taken To Make A Dress gowns on the jade carpet, during the Hollywood and Singapore film premieres, while Janice Koh looked perennially chic in Ong Shunmugam. FYI, while fashion-loving society ladies adore their Diors and Fendis, they also wear homegrown designers all the time. We would know.

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