Breast-feeding stirs debate

People have been in a tug- of-war over breast-feeding in public after a woman in a first-class hotel was asked to go into the toilet to feed her baby.

Sueli Rocha said a female security officer at The Peninsula hotel asked her to stop breast- feeding in public and the hotel manager said she could use the rest room for more privacy.

The treatment infuriated a group of women and they staged a protest at the hotel against its policy towards breast-feeding.

Candy Galarza, who organised the protest, said breast- feeding should not be banned in public.

'Breast-feeding is perfectly natural and a mother's ultimate right and it's the best thing for our children,' she said.

Ms Galarza said stopping a mother from breast-feeding was a violation of her rights.

Sacha Sloane, an English teacher from the United States, said: 'There's no difference between bottle and breast-feeding - at the end of the day the baby is having its food, so it's pathetic that anybody should be asked to go to the rest room to feed a baby.' Sarah Hung, a transport planner from Britain who has lived in Hong Kong for nearly 14 years, said breast-feeding was very important for a baby and a mother should not have to move away to feed her baby.