Then, Yishun could only boast a small bus terminal. But slowly it grew and grew. It had the first cineplex in Asia! Before that, cinema was singular. Then, the first bus interchange came up, and together with it, came a row of shophouses surrounding it, known as the 9 series. Today, it has the biggest shopping centre up north.

Back in 1990, our parents set up our first shop there. They strategically named it Ngee Soon Jewellery (Ngee Soon). We became very popular with the Yishunites. People queued up to buy gold. Soon enough, a few gold jewellers parked themselves right beside us. And together, we formed a line of gold shops, literally a street of gold.

During the heydays, we stocked so much gold that we had to have a huge safe (yes, those you see in bank heists), so much so that our competitors or frenemies would come and buy gold jewellery from us if theirs ran out.

And we grew up helping our parents run the shop. We learned the ropes like any old-school business—right from the bottom. We did everything; from serving water to customers to recommending jewellery or just smiling cutely. Customer service became second nature to us. And that’s how we built our rock-solid values of customer service.

The pioneer to merdeka generations know their gold very well. They know that gold serves both as an indicator of wealth and a great investment tool. Some of them had bought so much gold that they could even setup their own gold shops in their homes. And they have gained so much because the value of gold has increased by 300% since 20 years ago.