AL-AHSA: Baby bottles with lids made of 18 karat gold, which are seen in several gold shops, have sparked a social media outrage.
Prices for each bottle could exceed SR5,000, not to mention the gold pacifiers which could reach up to SR3,000.
Twitterati commented that the published pictures were provocative in light of the hard economic conditions experienced by the world at large, and the Kingdom in particular.
Mohammad Al-Baddah, wrote: “Does a child really need a gold bottle, and what would it add to the child if it was made of gold? This is a new way of overspending and excessive social pretension.”
Gold shop owners are exploiting this new fad of presenting a gold bottle as part of gift while visiting the parents of a newborn baby. People who oppose these bottles argue that the practice is pure showoff that would harm the community if it gains popularity.
Some have called for a law to deter these provocative practices.
Sociologist Mohammad Baqir Al-Ebied said the anger of the community about these bottles is quite justified. "In the past, people used to criticize banquets given on the occasion of having a newborn baby, and the luxuries that crossed all boundaries. People called for putting an end to this habit. After a period of comparative calm, now pictures of gold-encrusted bottles have surfaced, causing more anger about overspending," he said.
Al-Ebied said that in one Gulf country, celebrations on a baby's birth generally cost SR20,000, with people competing to exceed this figure. "Some women go to five-star hospitals, which cost obscene amounts of money, just to give birth, and it's feared that this craze could be copied in the Kingdom."
Gold merchant Fawzi Mohammad Al-Baqshi said the existence of such things isn’t strange, but the strange thing is it's spread at this particular time. These things have been in existence for more than five decades, and golden pacifiers are given as gifts for newborn babies, especially if a couple has a baby after a long time of waiting, or if a woman wishes to spoil her newborn baby. He added that golden pacifiers didn’t have a high value and weren’t limited to the rich; the middle class and the lower middle class bought them, too.
Al-Baqshi said this golden piece can be used as an asset, just like all other golden pieces. In the past it was bought as an investment, with mothers waiting for the price to reach a certain level before they sold them.
“As a gold merchant, I have been seeing golden pacifiers since I was nine years old, but the recent wave of anger was incited because social media websites revealed them to the public who didn’t know they were in existence,” he said.
He said some people use these products to show off their status, and “I am against that and I am against the pictures that were published on social media, especially the ones encrusted with diamonds.”
Gold merchant Munier Al-Baqshi feels the recent social media hullabaloo is not justified. “We have been dealing with golden pacifiers for more than five decades and we have been manufacturing them according to demand and customers’ wishes,” he added.
The idea of golden pacifiers originated in Iraq and they were initially made of light gold. Now they are heavy duty and withstand all conditions. They were sold for no more than SR450, when a single gram of gold was worth SR30. But now it has reached SR200, which is the reason behind the increased prices of pacifiers, he said.
The matter didn’t stop at golden bottles and pacifiers, it included underwear made of pure gold and sold for high prices in neighboring Gulf states, such as in the gold market of Dubai.
Al-Baqshi said these products are made to attract attention, because not many can afford their high prices, which means they are targeted at the superrich.
Prices for each bottle could exceed SR5,000, not to mention the gold pacifiers which could reach up to SR3,000.
Twitterati commented that the published pictures were provocative in light of the hard economic conditions experienced by the world at large, and the Kingdom in particular.
Mohammad Al-Baddah, wrote: “Does a child really need a gold bottle, and what would it add to the child if it was made of gold? This is a new way of overspending and excessive social pretension.”
Gold shop owners are exploiting this new fad of presenting a gold bottle as part of gift while visiting the parents of a newborn baby. People who oppose these bottles argue that the practice is pure showoff that would harm the community if it gains popularity.
Some have called for a law to deter these provocative practices.
Sociologist Mohammad Baqir Al-Ebied said the anger of the community about these bottles is quite justified. "In the past, people used to criticize banquets given on the occasion of having a newborn baby, and the luxuries that crossed all boundaries. People called for putting an end to this habit. After a period of comparative calm, now pictures of gold-encrusted bottles have surfaced, causing more anger about overspending," he said.
Al-Ebied said that in one Gulf country, celebrations on a baby's birth generally cost SR20,000, with people competing to exceed this figure. "Some women go to five-star hospitals, which cost obscene amounts of money, just to give birth, and it's feared that this craze could be copied in the Kingdom."
Gold merchant Fawzi Mohammad Al-Baqshi said the existence of such things isn’t strange, but the strange thing is it's spread at this particular time. These things have been in existence for more than five decades, and golden pacifiers are given as gifts for newborn babies, especially if a couple has a baby after a long time of waiting, or if a woman wishes to spoil her newborn baby. He added that golden pacifiers didn’t have a high value and weren’t limited to the rich; the middle class and the lower middle class bought them, too.
Al-Baqshi said this golden piece can be used as an asset, just like all other golden pieces. In the past it was bought as an investment, with mothers waiting for the price to reach a certain level before they sold them.
“As a gold merchant, I have been seeing golden pacifiers since I was nine years old, but the recent wave of anger was incited because social media websites revealed them to the public who didn’t know they were in existence,” he said.
He said some people use these products to show off their status, and “I am against that and I am against the pictures that were published on social media, especially the ones encrusted with diamonds.”
Gold merchant Munier Al-Baqshi feels the recent social media hullabaloo is not justified. “We have been dealing with golden pacifiers for more than five decades and we have been manufacturing them according to demand and customers’ wishes,” he added.
The idea of golden pacifiers originated in Iraq and they were initially made of light gold. Now they are heavy duty and withstand all conditions. They were sold for no more than SR450, when a single gram of gold was worth SR30. But now it has reached SR200, which is the reason behind the increased prices of pacifiers, he said.
The matter didn’t stop at golden bottles and pacifiers, it included underwear made of pure gold and sold for high prices in neighboring Gulf states, such as in the gold market of Dubai.
Al-Baqshi said these products are made to attract attention, because not many can afford their high prices, which means they are targeted at the superrich.
