Rich People Problems-Kwan 2017 (WWT)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
WU MANSIONS, SINGAPORE
“Your IC, please,” the security guard said sternly as Astrid rolled down the window of her
car. Astrid dug into her purse for her wallet, took out her Singapore Identity Card, and
handed it to the guard. He held the card up to his eye level to compare the semi-pixilated
photograph to her face, squinting at every detail.
“It was a bad-hair day,” Astrid joked.
The guard didn’t crack a smile, but took her IC into the guardhouse and began to scan it
through his computer system.
Astrid had to resist rolling her eyes. This particular Mainland Chinese guard already
knew her—how many times had she been here in the past few months? It made her
understand how the Wus came to develop a particular reputation among Singapore’s
establishment when Charlie’s father, Wu Hao Lian, first made his fortune in the early
1980s. The Wus did seem pretentious—there was no avoiding that fact.
At a time when the moneyed crowd preferred to populate elegant bungalows tucked
away in the leafy enclaves of Districts 9, 10, and 11, Wu Hao Lian had bought a large
parcel of land off one of Singapore’s busiest thoroughfares and built a sprawling family
compound right there for all the world to see. He had erected a tall white stucco wall
around the property, and at the top of the wall, sharp red-glazed tiles undulated up and
down like the scaley curves on a dragon’s back, ending at the main gates with twin carved
dragon heads in bronze. Rectangular gold plaques placed in niches at thirty-foot intervals
around the wall were engraved in an ornate calligraphy script with the words:
To ordinary Singaporeans—the ninety percent who lived in public-housing apartments
—it seemed like the Wus were the richest family in the land. The family was seen being
driven around in a fleet of ever-changing Rolls-Royces, always accompanied by security
guards in a Mercedes wherever they went. They were one of the first families on the
island to flaunt their private jet, and spent all their holidays touring Europe, where Irene