For Kevin Kwan, author of the Crazy Rich Asians, writing novels was always part of his retirement plan.

But somehow, it ended up happening way earlier than he'd expected.

When his father was diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Kwan decided to take some time off his job as a New York creative to care for him.

Between trips to the doctor's, they reminisced about the good old days in Singapore, which triggered Kwan to start on his novel. As he lived a privileged life here when he was young (his family relocated to the United States when he was 11), Kwan's childhood experiences somewhat served as the inspiration for his stories.

Happy Father's Day everyone! Here's my dad, circa 1950. Not a day goes by where I don't miss him. If your dad is anywhere near you right now, give him a hug.

A post shared by Kevin Kwan (@kevinkwanbooks) on Jun 19, 2016 at 9:40am PDT

After his father's death in 2010, Kwan started focusing on writing the novel.

How it turned satirical

However, he never planned for the novel to be a satirical piece. In an interview with The Straits Times, the author revealed that the novel started off as dramatised accounts based on memories from young.

I love old family albums and raided my aunt's stash in Bangkok. Here's a pic of me with my brothers and Thai cousins taken in my grandmother's garden in Singapore. Can you guess which one is me? #rockintheseventieslook

A post shared by Kevin Kwan (@kevinkwanbooks) on Feb 13, 2016 at 3:41pm PST

Flashback to Christmas Eve in Singapore, circa 1982. That's me in the orange shirt, trying to grab my cousin's cat while everyone is trying to sing along to the Christmas carols.

A post shared by Kevin Kwan (@kevinkwanbooks) on Dec 24, 2016 at 2:05pm PST

But as the stories developed, they somehow shifted to take on a more humorous tone, complete with Singlish jokes that only some would understand. An example would be the character, Tai Toh Lui, whose name translates to "too much money" in a mixture of Chinese and Hokkien.

Other characters in the book

Anyone who has read Crazy Rich Asians would know that its characters are loosely based on people Kwan encountered in his life.

Kwan's grandfather is Dr. Arthur Kwan, Singapore's first western-trained ophthalmologist who sounds vaguely like the character, Sir James Young, in his book.

More treasures unearthed from my aunt's old photo albums in Bangkok: my grandparents, Dr. & Mrs. Arthur P.C. Kwan

A post shared by Kevin Kwan (@kevinkwanbooks) on Feb 22, 2016 at 12:46pm PST

According to The Straits Times, when asked which character he felt he could relate to the most, Kwan mentioned Alistair Cheng, the misunderstood cousin of the main character, Nicholas Young.

Hard at work.

A post shared by Kevin Kwan (@kevinkwanbooks) on Aug 31, 2016 at 6:12am PDT

Now that we know of this, we can't help but wonder who the real life equivalent of Kitty Pong (Alistair Cheng's girlfriend in the novel) is.

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Top photo via Instagram.com/kevinkwanbooks

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