Growing up, I spent a lot of time with my grandmother — from shopping to walking all over the city. One of my grandmother’s favorite past times was to visit the goldsmiths in Little India. While she had her “go-to” gold jeweler, we also frequented other jewelers depending on designs she was interested in and what each goldsmith specialized in, sometimes just to window shop. My grandmother was a retired teacher, she received a pension every month and loved spending it on items she thought of as investments for the future. When buying gold, my grandmother only paid in cash — she never owned a credit card and definitely did not bank online. My many trips to the goldsmith with my grandmother helped me understand the unique gold industry in Singapore but also encouraged me to examine its susceptibility to money laundering.
