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SCMP Reporter

I REFER to a letter which appeared in the South China Morning Post, on March 2, regarding breast-feeding in public.

  I can sympathise with the writer's point of view but I do not agree with it.

  Perhaps the writer should consider that some babies do not accept milk from a bottle or secondly that the mother strongly feels that she wants her child to only be breast-fed.

  The fact at issue here is that perhaps the writer feels that the act of breast-feeding should not be done in public, despite the fact that breast-feeding is the most natural and a very beautiful way for a child to be fed.

  An important point to take into consideration here is that when a baby needs to be fed, there is not much a mother can do to stop the child crying except to let the child feed, whether this be on the train, on a ferry, in a bus or simply sitting down on a bench in the middle of a busy street.

  So saying, I'm sure that the feed would then be done as discreetly as possible.

  I'm afraid that breast-feeding is a fact of life and I cannot believe that any mother (expatriate or otherwise) would feed their offspring in a 'brazen manner' as stated by the writer.

  Another issue that someone should take a serious look at, is the lack of facilities for mothers with young children around Hong Kong.

  In many countries these days, baby changing rooms and facilities for breast-feeding mothers to sit in peace and privacy are provided, as a matter of course, in most shopping centres.

  In fact in some countries, baby changing rooms are also equipped with bottle warmers and other necessities not only for women, but also for fathers too. Any suggestions?   ANITA MICALLEF-EYNAUD New Territories MR P. G. Sherwood's sentiments expressed in his letter headlined, 'A loving act' (South China Morning Post, March 4), are symptomatic of the continuing deterioration in standards of self respect across the world, but particularly amongst North Americans and Western Europeans.

  The fact that breast-feeding is a perfectly natural activity does not condone the use of such a dispensary in public.

  There are certain standards of decency, sartorial and social behaviour that combine to create a fabric of civilised society.

  Arriving in Hong Kong reveals, for example, the contrast between the generally immaculately presented indigenous population and the slovenly dress of many expatriates. It is an embarrassment and should be quite unacceptable.

  However, we have grown used to an ever-more decadent West and in the extreme, to accept that loutish behaviour is inevitable and that nothing can be done about it. Nonsense.

  An appreciation of the importance of personal presentation and a less conciliatory attitude by the law towards ne'er-do-wells is required.

  This would go some way towards halting the breakdown of civilisation in many Western cities.

  I sincerely hope Hong Kong does not follow the United States of America's example in introducing casual dress on Fridays. The slippery slope . . .

  MARK PRESTON Lantau 



Breast-feeding a fact of life