Rich People Problems-Kwan 2017 (WWT)

child, what do you like about my country?”
Kitty stared at the sultana blankly. Until today, she had never set foot on Malay soil and
didn’t know a thing about the country. “Er…well…I love the people most of all, Your
Majesty. So warm and…hardworking,” Kitty said, thinking of the half a dozen or so Malay
maids that worked at Cluny Park Road.
The Dowager Sultana pursed her lips again. “Really? I was not expecting to hear that at
all. Most people tell me how much they love our beaches and our satay. So do you intend
to put down some roots here?”
“Well, if I can find a palace as beautiful as yours, I’d be very tempted.”
“Why thank you, but this is no palace. This is just a house.”
“Kitty’s husband, Jack Bing, is one of China’s premier industrialists. So they are highly
interested in investing in Malaysia.”
“Well we do have such a wonderful relationship with China. And I do adore that First
Lady of yours,” the Dowager Sultana said, picking up a piece of ondeh ondeh with her
fingers and chewing on it slowly.
“Oh, you’ve met her?” Kitty said excitedly, forgetting royal protocol again.
“Why yes. I gave her an audience at my palace in Perawak. What an accomplished
woman, and what a voice! Now, tell me, Oliver, how has your dear grandmama been since
I last saw her?”
“Her health is excellent, ma’am. But I must confess her spirits have been rather low
lately. As you know, my great-aunt Su Yi’s passing has affected her greatly.”
Kitty, feeling bored, began to zone out on the photo of the sultana with Michelle
Obama. She was trying to identify the designer of Michelle’s red dress. Was it Isabel
Toledo or Jason Wu? She felt sorry for the First Lady—that poor woman was obligated to
only wear American designers.
The sultana continued to speak. “Ah yes, it was such a beautiful funeral. Did you not
enjoy my son’s eulogy to Su Yi?”
“It was remarkable. I did not know that the sultan spent a year living at Tyersall Park.”
“Yes, when he was doing a special course at the National University of Singapore, Su Yi
was kind enough to host him. I’m afraid he found the Malay embassy accommodations to
be lacking, and he was much more at home at Tyersall. You do know his great-grandfather
was the sultan who originally built it?”
“Forgive me, ma’am, I had forgotten. No wonder he would feel a kinship to the place. If
I might venture to ask, was Su Yi ever conferred with a title?”
Kitty’s ears suddenly pricked up.
“To my knowledge, she wasn’t. I believe in the 1970s the Agong * —whoever it was back
then, I’ve lost track—tried to honor her, but she graciously turned it down. She was
already Lady Young, and never even used that title. Alamak, what would Su Yi need a title
for? There was never any doubt of her position. I mean, she already had Tyersall Park.
What more do you need?”