SIBU: An adept goldsmith, Alex Tiong learned the ropes of making and repairing jewellery by himself as ‘nobody will teach you how to do it’.
This is one of the skills which people will not be kind enough to share as they want to keep it to themselves,”said the 46-year-old when met yesterday.
After being in the business for 31 years, most goldsmiths, he pointed out, do not even want publicity.
From the age of 15, he started learning the skills by observing how his bosses worked until he had accumulated an array of skills in dealing with precious metals.
Tiong, who is married and has three children, started as an assistant in a jewellery shop here after completing his PMR examination.
In his quest to learn more about the skill, he quit his job and worked for other goldsmiths in Bintangor, Sarikei and neighbouring Brunei.
“I was working for people for about 10 years. The first three days were the most difficult as I knew nothing and had no skills whatsoever about the job. I almost gave up to take on other jobs instead,” he recalled.
However, he was able to overcome all the challenges through sheer grit and determination.
After 10 years of scrutinising how his bosses went about with their jobs, he ventured out on his own by opening his own shop at Jalan Market here selling mostly silver articles.
“With the little knowledge gained, I tried it out by going through many trials and errors until I am as good as them,” he said.
While his wife tends to the shop, he would be in his mini-workshop in a house of his relative, working with gold and silver.
He is so good now that he could make rings, necklaces, bracelets and bangles from raw silver and gold.
He uses a variety of tools and machinery, including the rolling mill, drawplate, swage blocks and other forming tools to shape the metal to build the intended piece.
“It normally takes me three to four hours to make one ring and longer for other delicate items. I also have customers who want me to either repair or beautify their items which I charge a nominal labour fee of between RM20 and RM30,” he said.
Working with gold, he said is a demanding task because the metal would lose its weight from the gold dust formed during brazing and polishing.
“Our job is not an easy one as it requires patience, tolerance and perseverance. Only those who have the passion will be able to make a living out of it,” he emphasised.
