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The Consumer's Association of of Singapore (CASE) has found that gold sold in local goldsmiths' shops are not as pure as they claim.
In a first survey conducted by CASE, they found that five out of 30 shops failed assay tests.
In September and October this year, the surveyors randomly selected jewellers from around the island including Little India, Chinatown, Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio, Bedok, and at each shop, they bought a standard 916 gold article, which should contain at least 91.6 per cent gold.
Most of the five failed Singapore Assay Office tests by a few decimal points. The worst score was 85.94 per cent.
Case president Yeo Guat Kwang said, "We understand that the phenomenon is not widespread, and only a small percentage fail the tests, but it is important to curb it before it spreads, so as not to tarnish strong consumer confidence in jewellers here'. Thus we will adopt a zelo tolerance attitude towards such practices."
CASE also found other malpractices that jewellers employ, including adding on a "gold loss" fee which has already been abolished by the Singapore jeweller's association, weighing the pieces inappropriately, and misusing the accreditation labels. Gold loss refers to the weight of the gold lost during manufacture, which is not supposed to be added to the final weight.
At a press conference yesterday, CASE pointed out that as more goldsmiths operate in Singapore, their business practices will increasingly come under scrutiny.
The Association had received two complaints about shops who charged their customers for gold lost. This prompted them to conduct the survey.
Mr Ho Nai Chuen, president of the Singapore Jewellers Association said that the sample size for the survey was too small to be representative, but such spot checks could improve the reliability and image of the gold retail industry here.
CASE is considering conducting the survey at regular intervals, and asks customers to report to them if they find any problems with the purity of the the gold they bought. They can also report to the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) or Spring Singapore.
This article first appeared in my paper in Chinese.
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