A mum entering a breastfeeding room to feed her child at the Woodlands Library found two boys playing video games and drinking coke.
In the video, the woman had repeatedly asked the two youths to leave the room but these only fell to deaf ears as they continued playing. When they noticed that she was taking a video, one of the boy attempted to hide his face by looking down. The matter escalated when the mum declared that ‘she would put the video up on the internet’. This prompted the youth in black to start cursing her and even raising his middle finger at her. The actions were done with a smirk on his face, allowing viewers to believe that he is not taking the situation seriously, and considers it as a joke.
While the boys did not vacate the room in the duration of the video, a Yahoo! Report states that the boys did eventually leave the room after being reprimanded by library staff. The boys did not clean up after themselves, having left a mess in their wake, with discards from their McDonald’s meal littered all over the floor of the room.
This incident has led to a furore online.
That infamous video generated close to 200,000 views on YouTube within days and the now notorious pair have become overnight ‘celebrities’ with their faces splashed on the front page of The New Paper.
There are obviously those who will be of the mind that the behaviour of these boys is a result of the foolishness of youth who do not understand the need for privacy for a breastfeeding mum.
Breastfeeding should be treated as a social norm. The lack of an emphasis on how such a room is a private space and should be respected as such is a reason why kids are willing to invade a nursing room and refuse to leave it.
The librarian eventually got the boys to vacate the room.
When confronted with such a situation, know that a breastfeeding room is a space meant for you mums. This means that you are in the right and such invasion into the room to engage in inane activities like playing console games is wrong.
In this situation, the presence of an authority figure – a librarian resulted in the two boys leaving the room. Do not hesitate to consult an authority figure such as a librarian in a library or any staff members when you require the room.
Need Help? Don’t fret!
Even if such a location is already occupied, here is a list of locations where you can breastfeed in peace.
theAsianparent also has a Singapore Breastfeeding Mums Support Group that you can join for mum-to-mum advice.