It is too shocking beyond words how such an insulting article (Live Porn Aboard an Economy Train, The Jakarta Post, Oct. 20, p. 23) could be published for all and sundry to read, nary a glimpse of your usually stringent and high standards?
We, the Indonesian Breastfeeding Mothers' Association (AIMI), have always striven to educate the public on the many and undisputed benefits of breastfeeding our children, and support mothers in their decision to do so. Luckily, media response to our various endeavors - including from yours truly - has always been positive.
Even so, did you know that according to the Health Ministry, statistics have actually shown that less and less women are breastfeeding their infants, and that babies bottle-fed with cow's milk are on the rise?
Optimistically speaking, upon reading this article, we initially hoped that the author was actually trying to highlight the fact that society has forgotten what one of the most natural, loving and nurturing acts in the world looks like...breastfeeding. After reading the article several times, we asked ourselves whether the author in her own sarcastic, unfunny kind of way is trying to blame the male species for having sex and porn on their brains all the time?
My dear Oey, you went on to rant about how the baby was exploiting his/her mother's privacy just in order to satisfy his/her hunger or thirst. Apparently, you have such vast and extensive knowledge about babies, breastfeeding and child-rearing. According to you, those babies on the train who have yet to grasp the concept of right and wrong and are so manipulative that they are willing to exploit their own mothers in order to justify their selfish needs.
It is with a heavy heart that we send this letter, for it seems that breastfeeding mothers in Indonesia still have a very long way to go. We have mountains of ignorance to climb, valleys of apathy to cross and rivers of judgment to swim.
We end this letter with a quote from a very famous man, and we hope that it will shed light on the ignorant, bring compassion to the uninterested and foster understanding on those who would judge.
. "It begins at birth. Our very first act after birth is to suck our mother's...milk. This is an act of affection, an act of compassion. Without that act, we cannot survive. That's clear...that's the way of life. That's reality." (Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, The Art of Happiness, a Handbook for Living; 1998)
Mia Sutanto
Jakarta
Likening breastfeeding, whether in public or private, to pornography is not only embarrassing, but also severely undermines the intensive effort made by the country's various healthcare providers to promote breastfeeding for the psychological and physical benefits to mother and infant alike.
In a country where malnutrition in under five-year olds is still at a high 23 percent (For the year 2007, World Development Indicators database, April 2009) it is highly irresponsible to equate the act of and choice to breastfeed with something illegal and obscene as it could easily discourage already reluctant mothers from breastfeeding.
The sentence "It would be funny, and controversial, if this was treated and legalized as normal - and not porn" is indicative of the author's ludicrous belief that breastfeeding in public is illegal, and her clearly unsuccessful attempt at satire! I am appalled not only by the content (and size) of this article but also at The Jakarta Post's decision to publish it, especially as the Post has on several occasions covered breastfeeding campaigns.
It is interesting to note that the author would rather blame the baby for the mother's "embarrassment" than perhaps herself and the men who "were avidly watching the breast-feeding process". It is precisely because of perspectives and people like this one that breastfeeding in public would be embarrassing in the first place and thus wrongly discouraged in young mothers.
The act of breastfeeding is not pornographic. It is the avid watchers who "continue to look" that think so. And these avid watchers taint this undeniably natural and essential process, and potentially cause huge detriment to what is a long and hard struggle to ensure adequate care and nourishment for all children.
Megha Kapoor
Jakarta
