A Gem-filled Weekend and A Disgraceful Encounter

After 4 days of intense buying, negotiations, and contact-building, my cravings for colourful  gems have been temporarily abated.

I spent a fair bit of money, mainly for gems for my personal collection. There were some business-related expenditures as well, and the unveiling of the new project on The Gem Hunter page will be revealed soon as soon as the air clears up so I can take some decent pictures of the project.

It's always a bit more interesting to attend a fair on the last day, when most vendors will be willing to lower their prices so they make a little more profit, or at least recoup their costs. I didn't buy anything on the last day (Sunday), but I did want to walk around and take in information.

I ended the day at a Cambodian vendor's booth, one from whom I bought a number of things over the numerous times he has come to Singapore, in order to ask him to help me find a few items from his home country. He, nice as he is, willingly agreed, and we will continue our correspondence.

While there, I was appalled at the nasty, disrespectful behaviour of a few groups of middle-aged women. They were hard-bargaining and very rude towards the vendor, giving ridiculously low prices. One even gave less money than was agreed upon, insisting that she had none left, and walked off with the items.

While they were going about this, one or two of them even turned towards me, as if expecting me to agree with their unjust prices and approve of their disgusting, disgraceful behaviour. I never deigned to even acknowledge their presence, completely ignoring them instead.

Having some idea of the market for gemstones and jewellery, I knew that he likely ended up with a loss on some of the items that were sold. 

I am ashamed to say that these middle-aged women (they were certainly no ladies) were Singaporean, having heard the way they spoke. I felt bad for the vendor, and hope that he will not view the rest of local Singaporeans in a negative light.

Seeking bargains is one thing. Behaving as if you deserve rock-bottom prices at the expense of another person is quite another. Some Singaporeans like to complain about the uncouth behaviour of certain foreign workers in Singapore. Yet, are some of us so different ourselves?

Gem Hunting Season

The Singapore Jewellery and Gem Fair arrives on our shores on 22 Oct til 25 Oct! 4 days of sparkle at Marina Bay Sands.

It'll be a great opportunity to meet and catch up with some of my gem dealing friends from around the region. Hopefully, I'll be able to make a few good deals with them.

On my trips to gem-selling countries, I've met other gem buyers who drive prices down to ridiculously low points, refusing to budge even on a five-dollar difference. Personally, I feel this to be very unnecessary. The seller is trying to earn a living, and five dollars isn't going to make or break the bank for the buyer, so why not let the seller have it?

A number of these buyers are re-sellers, who, after paying rock-bottom prices, jack the prices up tremendously before selling them in their home markets. Of course, it is perfectly normal business practice to increase prices when you re-sell, but it needs to be a reasonable margin.

I have found that gem-buying requires patience and tact. Once you build a good rapport with the seller, the prices automatically come down. I rarely try to drive prices too much lower than the asking price. Of course, I need to know the rough value of the gem I'm looking at, and that takes experience.

True, I may end up paying slightly higher prices than the hard-bargaining buyer at the next stall, but I believe that we live in a world of abundance, and not one of lack. I believe that both buyer and seller can mutually benefit, and one cannot succeed without the other.

Teaching Break is Over

Yesterday, I officially ended my daytime teaching break.

It was a conscious decision (and effort) to stop daytime teaching for the duration that it took me to write my book. Now that I'm done, I can get back to it!

Of course, I still have to revamp certain headings in the book, but since the major stuff (writing and self-editing) is completed, it won't take that much effort.

It was a pretty cool stint at one of the secondary schools in the northwest of Singapore (really far from home, though), and the topic was, I felt, rather more advanced that is usual for their level. Nevertheless, they did grasp the concepts quite quickly.

It's always a pleasure to teach eager students.

Hazy Thoughts

Well, the haze is still floating around, though its severity has dramatically decreased. It seems that, in a way, Singaporeans have started to come to terms with this problem. There are far fewer publicly-made complaints and there is a slight feeling of "grin and bear it", which is, admittedly, hard to see under a N95 mask.

Of course, we should continue to fight the issue, despite the scathing comments of a certain person in a prominent leadership position in the government of a Southern neighbour. 

With a little time to think about it, though, it may be this person's words that brought everyone together. The thought of having someone with so little sensitivity and decision-making ability, such a large ego, and little to no sense of responsibility in a position of leadership makes us scratch our heads. It also causes us to feel compassion for the citizens under that brand of leadership.

Certainly, we hope that both our nations can work together to bring the problem to a stop. This does seem difficult due to political differences and a certain degree of mistrust.

It seems that good intentions are simply insufficient. More work needs to be done to repair relationships, and soon.