"Tears of gold"... because of gold.

Recently, the price of gold has been continuously rising, causing many people who need to buy it to pay off debts or for wedding expenses to face considerable difficulties. Although domestic gold prices have decreased slightly in line with the decline in world gold prices, they are still too high compared to the average income of society.

Gold jewelry is widely available at the DOJI Gold, Silver and Gemstone Group branch in Quang Tri - Photo: MT

When the price of SJC gold reached 80 million VND per tael, Ms. Dang Huong (Ho Xa town) had to reluctantly buy 5 taels as a wedding gift for her nephew.

Ms. Huong's family consists of two sisters, and together they have four nieces and nephews. Their parents passed away early, so the sisters have always supported and cared for each other. Ms. Huong married early, so her children have long since grown up and settled down, while her younger sister recently married her first son. According to an agreement between the two sisters, whenever a niece or nephew in the family gets married, the aunts will give 5 taels of gold as a wedding gift. At the time of that agreement, gold was priced at 40 million dong per tael. Now, the price of gold has skyrocketed, while Ms. Huong's income from her teacher's salary is not very substantial. Out of love for her sister, her younger sister said there's no need to be so concerned about the old custom; whatever they have to give the nieces and nephews is fine. But Ms. Huong couldn't bring herself to do it because they are the only two sisters in the family.

There are times when the price of gold rises continuously, especially during wedding season, causing many people to worry, as giving gold as a gift is always a cultural tradition in Vietnamese weddings. In weddings, the groom's family brings gold as a dowry, the bride's family prepares gold for their daughter's marriage, and gifts from relatives and friends all include gold. However, having to buy gold when prices are too high, while many families are struggling financially, is a real burden. Many families, faced with the skyrocketing price of gold, are forced to give only a few taels symbolically, and rent the rest to give on the wedding day. Wedding gold rental services have become quite popular in recent years, meeting the needs of many low-income individuals who want their children to have a complete and meaningful wedding. However, renting wedding gold carries high risks and can lead to some unfortunate and even comical situations.

Ms. Le Thi C., from Thuy Ba Tay village, Vinh Thuy commune, Vinh Linh district, shared her story of renting wedding gold for her son, only to have to buy it later because the bride... refused to return it. Ms. C. is a single mother with only one son. On her son's wedding day, she planned to give the couple two gold rings she had bought a long time ago. However, her son wanted to show off to his wife's family, so he suggested renting more gold to give as a gift, promising to return it later. Having never heard of this service, Ms. C. initially refused, but after being persuaded by her son, she agreed to let him rent a set of gold bangles and bracelets weighing 3 taels (approximately 37.75 grams) for 200,000 VND per day, but with a deposit of over 15 million VND. Thinking that the gold rental had been discussed beforehand with his wife, she asked her daughter-in-law after the wedding about returning the gold and getting back the deposit to pay for wedding services, but was met with a fierce reaction. The son then confessed that he hadn't discussed it with his wife beforehand. Having no other choice, Ms. C. had to scramble to borrow money to buy the rented gold.

Ms. TN, the owner of a gold shop in Dong Ha City, said: Currently, there is a service in Dong Ha City that rents out wedding gold, but renters have to deposit gold or money equivalent to the amount of jewelry rented. After the customer returns the jewelry, they will receive back the deposit or gold along with a daily rental fee of 800,000 VND for that set of jewelry. "Many families have gold bars or gold ingots but want to give jewelry to their children on their wedding day, or in some cases, they need cash for business, so they only rent a few pieces of jewelry for the ceremony and return them afterwards," Ms. TN shared.

Explaining this rental method, Ms. N. said it's mainly to support families and regular customers, not widely applied. In the province, renting gold jewelry with a deposit less than the rental value is very rare due to the high risk involved. Furthermore, for gold shop owners, buying and selling yields higher profits than renting. Because wedding gold rental services carry high risks, gold shop owners always carefully check the condition of the goods to avoid any negative situations later. Having witnessed many unfortunate incidents from renting wedding gold, Ms. N. advises everyone using this service to have thorough discussions between both parties, especially the bride and groom, to avoid misunderstandings and conflicts later on.

Besides wedding expenses, the rising price of gold has also put many people who borrowed gold in a difficult situation. Many borrowed gold from relatives and friends to buy land or build houses, thinking that gold prices are less volatile than bank interest rates. When gold prices skyrocketed, many people postponed repayment plans hoping to buy again when prices fell, but this is difficult because not everyone has the experience to analyze the market and choose the right time for gold prices to drop. The debt thus ballooned, causing many people sleepless nights.

Many believe that while gold is an indispensable dowry in weddings, the way it is given should depend on the economic conditions of each family. One should not place too much emphasis on formality, as this could burden the other family. Ultimately, the key to a lasting marriage does not depend on the amount of gold exchanged during the wedding ceremony.

Thuy Ba

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/vang-mat-vi-vang-186359.htm