On the 22nd of August 2018 a global audience was treated to a spectacularly glamorous event staged at Tyersall Park, but this time the entire production was a work of fiction. The date was the global release of the movie Crazy Rich Asians, based on Kevin Kwan’s novel of the same name. The event took place 133 years after the official opening of the real Tyersall Palace (Istana Tyersall) in Singapore. For a year or more the Crazy Rich Asians movie took the world by storm, including Singapore, where the story is set.
A few months ago, I met an ex-colleague for lunch. She was, and is, one of the smartest people I know and, since we worked together has gone on to achieve further highs in her successful career. The conversation ebbed and flowed, eventually touching upon my progress in completing Palace of Ghosts and the daunting path to publishing that lay ahead. She, like myself, had lived in close proximity to the plot of land where the now ruined Istana Woodneuk still stands in the grounds of the former real Tyersall Park and so had a keen interest to know more about the story.
At some point during the conversation one of us, I can’t remember who, mentioned that the mansion which is central to the plot of Crazy Rich Asians was named Tyersall Park. “It is fictional, of course” I said, to which she replied, “No. No it isn’t.” Momentarily our conversation was at crossed purposes. She was correct of course: Tyersall is not fictional. Only Kwan’s novel and its depiction of Tyersall Park is fictional. I was surprised and flattered that my luncheon companion was thinking first and foremost about my book and the hidden history it reveals, with Istana Tyersall and Tyersall Park being at the heart of it. I, on the other hand, had been pondering how the novelist had come by the name of Tyersall, (and presumably some of its history too), imagining the thought processes that had led him to borrow the name for his story.
People with good memories may well recall that in Kevin Kwan’s 2013 novel Crazy Rich Asians, Tyersall Park is a fictional location in Singapore. In the book, it is a magnificent estate and one of the most prestigious properties in the country. It is owned by the Young family, members of Singapore’s ultra-wealthy elite. Among others, the fictional Tyersall Park is the childhood residence of Nicholas Young, the movie’s protagonist, played by Henry Golding–(a British actor with Dyak Iban ancestry: his mother being from the East Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo). The estate becomes a central location for various events and gatherings throughout the story, highlighting the lavish and extravagant lifestyle of Singapore’s elite–especially that of the Young family. The book describes the estate, including a sprawling mansion with beautifully landscaped gardens, multiple wings, and opulent interiors. The property is filled with luxurious amenities, including a private theatre, ballroom, spa, and state-of-the-art security system.
Michelle Yeoh, mother of the movie's protagonist, in the imagined interior of Tyersall Park.
It is worth noting, again, that Tyersall Park in Crazy Rich Asians is a modern-day fictional creation by Kevin Kwan. The author drew inspiration from real-life extravagant properties in Singapore—modern-day palaces, of which there are many to be found in the Tanglin neighbourhood, and elsewhere–to create the setting for his novel. Walking my dogs, or running around Tanglin, I never ceased to be amazed by the sprawling properties located there. They are huge, with luxury sedan cars stacked in their commodious driveways. I reason that they must house traditional Chinese extended families with multiple incomes. But then, not necessarily. The wealth, hidden away from jealous eyes in these leafy and exclusive neighbourhoods, is truly staggering. The recent press controversy about two government ministers allegedly gaining unfair access to Singapore’s historic black and white mansions, which after an investigation into the affair found no wrongdoing on the part of Minister K Shanmugam and Minister Vivian Balakrishna, may well have been partly fueled by the perception that these, and adjoining neighbourhoods, are where Singapore’s super rich live. (for the full story click here). The location is near where the original Istana Tyersall was situated: in fact, the two bungalows at the centre of the controversy are located no more than 500 metres from the former site of Istana Tyersall.
If Kevin Kwan was looking for a name for the Young’s family home that was evocative of exclusivity and elitism then he found the right name and in the right neighbourhood: old money and luxury living in the heart of one of the world’s most wealthy and sought after urban sanctuaries. The description of the residence in the book, and its depiction in the movie, is certainly no exaggeration.
How the Crazy Rich Asians movie imagined Tyersall Park to look like
Much of the movie takes place in outrageously lavish settings and Galerie Magazine, a popular art, culture, and design monthly journal, carried an article in 2018 that describes some of thinking that went into the movie set design of the fictional Tyersall Park in Crazy Rich Asians including excerpts from an interview with Kevin Kwan
“Tyersall Park is loosely inspired by many houses from my childhood that I remember visiting and going to, family houses,” says Kwan. “It was also inspired by an actual house called Istana Woodneuk that is now a derelict old mansion […] That was the first inspiration point. It’s this complete folly that’s part Victorian, part Chinese, and part Arabic architecture.”
Of course, the connection is that Istana Woodneuk used to stand in Tyersall Park, along with the Sultan’s other palace Istana Tyersall, making the last sentence in Kwan’s comment rather interesting. Although there was a gap of four decades between the construction of Istana Tyersall and Istana Woodneuk that stands in ruins today, both were said to have been built in an “Anglo-Malay” style. “Anglo” at the time of Istana Tyresall’s construction was indeed Victorian and Malay architecture displays many design features that might be characterised as Arabic-influenced. In addition, Istana Tyersall was designed by Sultan Abu Bakar’s fourth wife Fatimah, who was Chinese, and by one of the leading architects who was active in Singapore and Johor at the time Wong Ah Fook, who, as his name suggests, was also Chinese. So the “part Victorian, part Chinese, and part Arabic architecture” is actually an accurate description of the real Istana's architecture.
Citing Nelson Coates, the movie’s set designer, the article continues, “Finding its filmic stand-in was not that easy. Coates and his crew scoured Southeast Asia. ‘We did not have Tyersall Park,’ Coates says. Finally, they found two houses in Kuala Lumpur, one that serves as Tyersall Park’s interior and the other as its exterior. ‘We felt that there was a way to take those two locations and make it spectacular. I built a vestibule and put it on both houses so that you walk in through one set of doors and you’re in the same interior scene in each house. It helped create a seamless connection between the two, but both of houses had to be entirely redone.”
Unbeknownst to either Coates or Kwan, there is a superbly ironic, even shocking, connection between the real Istana Tyersall and the actual buildings used in the movie for the fictional Tyersall Park set, but that revelation is for another post: no spoilers here!
The article continues, “Unable to restore the structure completely, Coates built theatrical-style scenic pieces and then added faux architectural features and Singaporean design elements that would upscale the place. ‘We put in these carved plaques into the plasterwork, which is very typical of the actual Tyersall Road area in Singapore.’ The house also got a completely new landscape design [...] ”
“The complexity of getting Tyersall Park to look like it’s this incredibly high-end mansion was in itself unbelievably challenging. Everything you’re seeing is wallpapered, painted, gilded. If you were to go to the space today and look at it, it looks vastly different.”
Imagined Tyersall interiors recreated as movie sets for the Crazy Rich Asians movie
An interesting segment of the article talks about the gardens: “We needed to have an excuse to see the house in all its glory, so we wanted the party at Tyersall Park to spill out onto the lawn and so many of these kinds of estates do have a conservatory,’ Coates says. Wanting a grand effect, the crew built the conservatory in just 16 days.” Of course, both Istana Tyersall and Istana Woodneuk were designed with multiple louvred doors that opened out onto expansive terraces overlooking the Park. In the days before air conditioning, this was more than just an aesthetic device to impress the guests. As the cool evening breeze of the monsoon winds brought much-needed relief from the stupefyingly humid afternoons, the open doors would beckon the impressive cast of the worlds influential, rich and famous whom the Sultan, famous for his hospitality, may have been be hosting. The gardens were legendary in their day and, on the occasion of Tyersall’s official opening party in 1895, the entire park was lit up with hundreds of light bulbs, an occasion that was considered a technological marvel at the time. Istana Tyersall was the first building in Singapore to have electric lighting installed.
The gardens remained in use for all manner of occasions (eg. meets for automobile enthusiasts, dog shows, and equestrian events among others), with permission from the sultans of course, long after Tyersall ceased to be their official residence.
Above, the grand staircase in Crazy Rich Asians Tyersall Park movie set. Below, the real grand staircase in today's ruined Istana Woodneuk situated in the grounds of what was once the actual Tyersall Park
The real story of Tyersall Park, itself one of the central “characters” of Palace of Ghosts, is, of course, far more intriguing, involving wealth and extravagance which puts the fictional lifestyle of the Young family into the shade. It’s hard to believe, but true. Palace of Ghosts begins over 200 years before Kevin Kwan’s novel and lends considerable weight to Mark Twain’s famous insight that “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.” At the time of Tyersall Park’s official opening in 1895 Sultan Abu Bakar was at the top of his game and his new magnificent palace was created to reinforce that fact. As well as being the sovereign Sultan of Johor with his palatial headquarters in Singapore, he was also personally very wealthy. However, the story of his family’s wealth (ie. that of his descendants) was only about to begin. Later, his son Sultan Ibrahim was reputed to be the world’s most wealthy person. His extravagance, and sometimes shocking behaviour, filled the gossip columns of the worlds sensationalizing press. Equally, his generosity–of which Singapore and the British, not to even mention his own domain of Johor, were major beneficiaries–was also legendary.
The stories of the unprecedented wealth of the sultans, at least in this corner of Southeast Asia, form a large part of the central chapters in the Palace of Ghosts, but of course, as previous posts explain the money had to have come from somewhere. Likewise, it had to be spent somewhere too, not only at the discretion of one man but also at that of the government of Johor which he controlled. The city of Johor Bahru today, with a population of nearly 1 million people and having now been part of the modern state of Malaysia for 70 years, was largely founded upon the wealth of Sultan Abu Bakar.
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