New S'pore online business sells ivory jewellery to "reshape nature". Animal lovers are triggered.

Its founder says the ivory sold is 'vintage', sourced before the 1990s.

Fasiha Nazren | August 06, 2018, 04:02 PM

Ivory Lane is a Singapore-based e-commerce selling accessories that appear to be made from ivory.

Yes, that ivory — the one that comes from the tusks of elephants that you have to kill to get.

Based on a Facebook post from the several-day-old business, the ivory used is sourced from "Central Africa" and "handcrafted in Asia".

Business owned by Singaporean

The new business is apparently owned by a 32-year-old "Singaporean-born" named Ivy Chng.

According to the About Us page on Ivory Lane's website, Chng had discovered that she inherited ivory jewellery from her ancestors.

That was when she decided to launch Ivory Lane as an opportunity to "reshape nature" and "create something precious that can be carried forward to future generations".

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Price starts from S$160

Here are some of the offerings from Ivory Lane, with prices ranging between S$160 and S$800.

via Ivory Lane's website

via Ivory Lane's website

via Ivory Lane's website

6-day old Instagram account has 5,000+ followers already

Currently, despite the accounts only having been live and in operation for about six days, Ivory Lane's Instagram and Facebook pages already have more than 5,000 followers and 600 likes respectively.

But individual posts seem to be attracting more flak than compliments or positive hype.

This Facebook post, for example, claims that ivory is a "secret desire for most girls".

Here's a selection of the comments on the post:

Several Instagram posts have also featured images of elephants with the caption "Hold nature close to your heart. Own your very own piece of ivory":

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl93lY0gWtH/

Here are some of the responses to this post:

Here's what one person had to say about the overall campaign:

Chng responds to backlash

In response to criticism, Chng came forward on Monday, Aug. 6, with a statement asserting that the ivory she is selling is "completely legal in Singapore":

In case you can't see the Facebook post:

image via Ivory Lane Singapore Facebook post

Is the sale of ivory really legal in Singapore?

This then begs the question: is the sale of ivory truly legal in Singapore?

Last we heard, the government was in March last year contemplating a complete ban on ivory sale in Singapore.

This means that technically, the sale of ivory is still legal — provided it comes from old stock, obtained before the ban on imports and exports was enacted in 1990.

That being said, ensuring the ivory used to make products is really "vintage" isn't as straightforward as it sounds.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, it is difficult to distinguish old from recently-acquired ivory, and so we're guessing businesses dabbling with ivory, including this new one, can't be 100 per cent sure that the ivory sourced is truly "vintage", then.

Top image from Ivory Lane's social media pages