Pro at work: SMS Deen Jewellers’ goldsmith Saravanan making gold jewellery pieces at the shop in Kuala Lumpur. — FAIHAN GHANI/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s glittering gold industry is at a crossroads, with a striking imbalance of just one goldsmith for every four jewellery shops.
A prominent industry leader has called for adopting technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in goldsmithing to ensure the survival of this craft and maintain the country’s competitive edge in the global market.Federation of Goldsmiths and Jewellers Association of Malaysia president Datuk Chiah Hock Yew said there has been a declining trend of gold craftsmen in the country.
However, he said the industry maintains a functional balance based on market needs.
“In the past, traditional gold shops had craftsmen on site to help repair gold jewellery, but now there are very few such shops.
“Unless it is a traditional gold shop, there are no experienced goldsmiths who provide this special service,” he added.
Chiah said that TVET education would be important in supporting the gold industry’s transformation and innovation.
“The gold industry highly depends on refined production and operation technologies, such as Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines, laser engraving, 3D printing and precision casting.
“The modern operation skills and equipment maintenance knowledge learned via TVET can improve production efficiency and reduce defect rates to meet the quality requirements of gold products,” he said.
Chiah added that as innovation in the industry is also important, creative skills attained by graduates from TVET training would help enhance the marketability of gold and jewellery products.
He also said that the industrialisation of gold production is essential for large-scale production and to maintain consistent quality.
“Currently, gold and silver jewellery are mainly completed by a combination of manual and mechanical methods.
“Manual production excels in uniqueness but cannot support mass production.
“Industrialisation is essential to meet large-scale production needs and maintain consistent quality standards,” he said.
In 2023, Malaysia exported RM7.7bil worth of gold jewellery, compared with RM7.39bil in 2022, according to the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade).
The Matrade report also showed that Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Britain, India and China were the top buyers of Malaysian gold jewellery.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Indian Goldsmith and Jewellers Association president Datuk Abdul Rasul Abdul Razak said talent retention will remain the main challenge.
While introducing such training in TVET would be welcome, he said that more needs to be done to ensure that graduates do not leave the country upon finishing their studies.
“We used to have goldsmithing classes many years ago, but how many of them remained in the country?
“They left the industry or Malaysia for better pay overseas,” he said.
Abdul Rasul added that typically, the entry-level salary for jewellers would start from RM1,500, and as they received training on the job, this amount would increase alongside their skill progression.
He also said that as goldsmithing requires highly-trained individuals, the industry would usually hire foreign workers as they have the expertise – these include workers from Turkiye, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
On the proposal to pay a premium salary for TVET graduates of between RM2,500 and RM4,000 upon graduation, he said that this would not be viable for the gold industry.
“We can’t simply pay a starting salary (of up to RM4,000) because even the managerial level workers are paid about RM3,000. So this should be studied more,” he said.
Last September, the National TVET Council agreed to set monthly premium salaries for TVET graduates at RM2,500 to RM4,000.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that this salary benchmark exceeds the government’s minimum wage requirements and aims to attract more TVET graduates to relevant sectors.
On the rise of automation and artificial intelligence (AI), Abdul Rasul said the goldsmithing field was not threatened by these technologies and would not be for the next two decades at least.
He said goldsmithing still required intricate designs with cultural values and could only be done with the “human touch”.
When contacted, Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Mohamad said efforts are underway to determine if there is a need for specific training to industrialise goldsmithing and cope with the demand from the local industry.
He said the ministry was still researching and reviewing all aspects of the matter, including proposals from industry players.
“It is still under review of the ministry,” he said, responding to Chia’s call to industrialise goldsmithing in Malaysia by introducing relevant training courses.
According to Abdul Rahman, his ministry has two related items listed under the National Occupational Skills Standard initiative: contemporary jewellery arts and crafts, and traditional jewellery arts and crafts training programmes.
“If they want to train under jewellery, there are such courses, but for goldsmiths specifically, it does not fall under our ministry,” he said.
