FROM THE TOP

Industry voices: Can the government do more to boost the local jewellery scene?

“Singapore can learn from Korea in how it promotes its arts scene. For example, funding organisations to build their R&D department, or to drum up interest in the next generation with more exposure using initiatives like competitions, visits to trade events and support for companies to take part in trade shows. — Michael Koh, managing director of Caratell. “Provide more subsidies for jewellery-related courses like gemstone and diamond identification, jewellery design and metal-smithing. Jewellery creation is an art form in itself, so perhaps the National Art Council can play a role in recognising the work of designers and craftsmen in this field.” — Maddy Barber, co-founder of Madly Gems. “Both Spring and IE Singapore have been supporting us for a while and I think they have a lot of great programs. But for any brand, it takes a while to get a hang of what each program is for and how to go about it. Many of the support programs are one-off, so it will be great if the program is on-going—up to a certain point when we are ready to fly on our own.” — Simone Ng, executive creative director of Simone Jewels.