Penang’s Gold and Jewellery Trade: A Generational Shift is at Hand
By William Tham
November 2021 FEATURE
THE SUDDEN MARCH rush to buy gold took even Penang’s seasoned jewellers and goldsmiths by surprise. A few timely factors had converged, such as the loosening of some of the stricter regulations of the second MCO, the i-Sinar programme introduced to help citizens afflicted by the pandemic-induced recession, and the general loss of income leading to their right to withdraw money from EPF savings. But most importantly, as pointed out by Teh De Jack, a third-generation jeweller at KOMTAR Gem...
References
- William Tham, August 2020, “Keeping Alive Penang’s Reputation as a Jewellery Design Centre”, Penang Monthly.
- Nur Hanani Azman, 24 March 2021, “Malaysians using i-Sinar for investment”, The Malaysian Reserve. Gold is priced differently across Malaysia, with Penang’s gold prices relatively lower, especially when compared to Singapore.
- Deutsche Welle, “Malaysia's Mahathir rekindles gold standard debate”
William Tham
has been published in NANG, PR&TA, The Best of World SF: Volume 2, and the Southeast Asian Review of English. He co-edited The Second Link: An Anthology of Malaysian and Singaporean Writing.
