A Gem of a Deal - Book Update August 2024

Some of you know that I have been working on another book - about gemstones. This is a mock-up of it. It probably won’t be the final cover, but this one looks good so far.

I’m updating the information to be more relevant to the post-pandemic world, especially market information pertaining to the gemstone industry and the changes that it is experiencing.

A Gem of a Deal was especially written to help people who are buying gemstones for the first time to know a bit more about what they are doing before they do it - hence the working subtitle - How to Buy Gems and Gemstone Jewellery Without Getting Ripped Off.

It also seeks to help beginner collectors get a head start and good deals for their first collections.

We all had to start somewhere, and I wish that I had something like this to refer to when I first started my collection those many, many years ago. It would have helped me to minimise my “school fees” and more expensive mistakes.

If all goes well, I should have something more concrete by the end of this year, and hopefully get this published and printed in 2025! Exciting stuff!

I Spent Two Months Plus Doing These Things During Singapore's Circuit Breaker

Now that Singapore’s Circuit Breaker has entered Phase 2, with limited openings of certain establishments, I suppose we could say that we are starting to get back to some sense of ‘normal’.

Perhaps this is a time to take stock of what I’ve done over the past 2 months or so.

The main achievement?

I produced 4 sets of curriculum/content.

Namely,

1) Forensic Investigative Skills

The original purpose for this one is for the school market, of course. This will be put to use in July, as long as schools remain open.

That said, I think that it will be both useful and fun for adults as well. The skills, after all, are used in our everyday lives - information gathering, observation, problem solving, and so on.

I’ll have to see who I can talk to to get this started.

2) Health Science

Again, this was made for the school market, but can be useful for those who have aged parents and/or children to take care of.

3) Harnessing Your Quiet Strengths

Now, this one has a little story behind it. It was originally developed for Introverts Network Asia (INA), but things have tapered off for this, so I never finished it, leaving it half done.

I decided to just finish it up. At least I now have a set of curriculum ready to go should I need it, either live or, perhaps, as an online course.

It is, as expected, aimed at introverts and helping them to make use of the strengths that they perhaps regard as insignificant, but are actually highly valuable.

I see this as an accompaniment to The Introvert Teacher, and intend to have them linked together.

4) 4D Your Message

This is my take on communication skills, slightly angled towards newer educators/trainers, but can definitely be used by anyone who wants to get their message out.

This, too, has a story behind it. It was originally conceived for online delivery as part of an initiative by an organisation. But, as with the previous set of content, this, too, fizzled out.

I decided to just have it finished up.

My main thought at the moment is figuring out how to bring these things to more people once Circuit Breaker properly ends.

I've considered online training, but the activities, especially for the first two, are best done live. I could potentially redesign them, but it’s A LOT of work.

Alternatively, I could have them converted to videos and sell an online course. I’m not sure yet.

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I’m also finishing up a project I started 2 years or so ago - my book on gem buying, titled A Gem of a Deal.

The good news is:

A Gem of a Deal is NEARLY finished! Yay!

Here’s a cover I designed for it. It may not be the final version, but I’ll use it for now.

I’ll put more information up on Loupin Jewels.

Yes, I designed it myself. Photoshop and Illustrator. ;)

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Photographing gems!

It’s quite a long story behind this, but I’ve started to photograph gems again. This time, the results look pretty good, even if I do say so myself.

Sapphire Crystal

Garnet Crystal

Prehnite Cabochon

Emerald Piece

And, of course, I’ve been collating some of my old photos.

It’s been a fairly productive couple of months, I’d say.

Here’s to an even more productive 2 months ahead!

Gem and Gemstone Jewellery Biz Launch - Loupin Jewels

The day is finally here! After months of preparation (and some delays), the website of Loupin Jewels is now live! There are still a couple of tweaks and updates needed there, but the site is up and running!

It's not been easy juggling the book - The Introvert Teacher - and the gemstone business, but it all now comes to fruition. And not a moment too soon. It's still 2016! I'm in time!

The aim of Loupin Jewels is to bring awareness and attention to the vibrant world of gems and gemstone jewellery.

There will be gemstones, gem-related products, gem hunting services and beautiful jewellery available through us.

There will also be classes and blog posts on how to buy gems, how to assess them and how to avoid getting ripped off.

How to avoid getting ripped off has been asked of me by so many people so many times that I have written a book about it. There is some information on the website - here - and I envision that the book will be ready soon, but it's still in the works. Right now, I'm looking for an illustrator to enhance the readability of the text that I've written.

Please have a look at the website: www.loupinjewels.com and let me know if there are any bugs on the site. I might have missed something. Give me your comments too!

Hoping to hear from you!

Racial Harmony

On Thursday, I assisted a fellow trainer friend at his talk on racial harmony in a local JC. The session consisted of a film made by a local director/producer and a discussion afterwards.

One of the statistics that my friend stated got me thinking. Only 20% of Chinese in Singapore have a close friend who is from another racial background. Granted that we make up the largest proportion of the local population, that number is still pretty low.

Racial harmony is, doubtlessly, an important thing to have and we have done a fairly good job of it so far. Racial riots no longer occur, though the same cannot be said of racial tensions.

My pondering over this was also spurred on by the gem and jewellery fair that occurred over the weekend. A number of the vendors are familiar faces, though there are also quite a few new ones. 

As I spoke to the different vendors, the cultural differences between us quickly became apparent. Simply the way they related to the locals here was obviously different from the way they related to their own countrypeople. I even had a chance to observe some interactions between vendors from different countries. It was, in a word, interesting.

Perhaps, deep down, we are all still very much more comfortable with people who are similar to us and race is a point of commonality for many. After all, who could argue that race and culture are related and that it is easier to make cultural references with someone who has the same understanding as we do?

That said, I enjoy meeting people from different countries, and hope to have many more opportunities to do so in the coming years.