By Jessica Lim
News Reporter
limjess@sph.com.sg

 

SO THERE they were, then, officials of the Consumer's Association of Singapore (Case), all pressed suits and starched shirts, at their flourescent-lit office on the fifth floor of the Ulu Pandan Community Club, poised to talk to reporters about... breast-feeding.

The conference began with Case vice-president Lim Biow Chuan (did someone say "clinically"?) pulling out price tables from a survey conducted last month which showed that going natural isn't just good for the baby, it's cheaper too.

$710 cheaper over half a year, to be exact.

Case officials then proceeded to rattle off prices (in case you're wondering, Karihome Goat Milk Infant Formula was the most expensive, at $1,219.38 for 20kg) to show why breast milk is best, and then used phrases that just called out for a double-entendre joke or three: "Breast pumps."* "Cooler bags."* "Ice packs."*

Meanwhile, three representatives of the Breastfeeding Mothers' Support Group sat in the corner impassively. After a while - and reporters present saw this coming a while away - they decided to break their silence.

"It's not all about cost", said Mrs Doris Sok. She then proceeded to extol the virtues of breast milk: "It has antibodies, live cells and enzymes that formula doesn't."

She then took issue with Case's costing. The association had said feeding babies on mother's milk would cost as little as $25.50, but Mrs Sok said this could come down to "next to nothing". Breast pumps were optional as mothers could just "use their hands to squeeze the milk out", she said.

By this point, faces were beginning to redden - both Case officials on stage were men - and then came two topics that pushed matters over the top - sagging breasts and milk excretion.

Back and forth it went, Case trying to talk prices, mothers just as insistent on making their own point.

Finally, though, both sides had their way: Case got its two cents' about cost-savings in, and the Breastfeeding Mothers' Support Group attracted the bulk of publicity, and driving home the point by unveiling a giant banner highlighting World Breasfeeding Week as photographers clicked away.