03-07-2013, 11:11 PM
Seriously how much can we trust Chinese when they can't even trust themselves and got to resort to all sorts of tactics...
Breast milk with your tea? In China, the butler can help
Angus Grigg AFR corresondent
537 words
4 Jul 2013
The Australian Financial Review
AFNR
English
Copyright 2013. Fairfax Media Management Pty Limited.
Shanghai The rise of China has thrown up some oddities over the past decade and this latest status symbol for the country's newly rich is no exception.
It's not just handmade shoes or a British-trained butler that's come into vogue, but the services of a personal wet nurse. And it's not only for the children.
According to The Southern Metropolis Daily, wealthy adults in the manufacturing hub of Shenzhen are spending up to 20,000 yuan ($3600) a month on a wet nurse.
"Clients can choose to consume breast milk directly through breastfeeding . . . but they can always drink it from a breast pump if they feel uncomfortable," Lin Jun, from the Xinxinyu Household Service Company, told the paper.
In an indication that the TV series Little Britain has yet to reach China, Mr Lin said breast milk was popular among wealthy adults with highpressure jobs and poor health.
"Breast milk is the best tonic, especially for those people who have undergone major surgery," he said.
While the medical literature does not appear to support the claim, Mr Lin looks to have a thriving business.
He told the Southern Metropolis he was now scouring the country looking for young, healthy mothers who were prepared to do the job.Concerns about exploiting young women
Most of Mr Lin's current crop of wet nurses have been hired from poor rural areas in China, raising concerns about exploitation and debate about whether the practice is even legal.
The employment contract under which the women are retained describes them as either a nanny, cook or housekeeper.
But among China's multitude of other problems – corruption, a toxic environment and a slowing economy – this looks to be a low priority for the police.
"Consuming human breast milk is quite popular among my social circle . . . spending 10,000 to 20,000 yuan hiring a wet nurse is not uncommon at all," the Southern Metropolis quoted an anonymous source as saying.
"Only a few people would suck breast milk directly from a wet nurse's nipples."
Demand for wet nurses for infants is also increasing, due to a series of tainted milk scandals across China in recent years.
Butlers also in demandThe other high-end service growing in demand by wealthy Chinese is a British butler.
It's called the "Downton Abbey effect", after the hit television show set in a British country house.
This has seen demand for British butlers in China outstripping supply, and a host of butler schools opening to train locals in the finer points of service.
The latest to open was the British Butler Institute, which has outposts in Lagos, Delhi and Brussels.
One of its trainers, Nicholas Bonell, said a butler could show China's wealthy the finer points of etiquette, such as where to place a bouillon spoon or how to respond correctly to a cocktail party invitation.
"New money wants to emulate old money and it does so by acquiring the trappings of old money – works of art for instance, but also a butler," he told That's Shanghai magazine.
Fairfax Media Management Pty Limited
Document AFNR000020130703e9740002u
Breast milk with your tea? In China, the butler can help
Angus Grigg AFR corresondent
537 words
4 Jul 2013
The Australian Financial Review
AFNR
English
Copyright 2013. Fairfax Media Management Pty Limited.
Shanghai The rise of China has thrown up some oddities over the past decade and this latest status symbol for the country's newly rich is no exception.
It's not just handmade shoes or a British-trained butler that's come into vogue, but the services of a personal wet nurse. And it's not only for the children.
According to The Southern Metropolis Daily, wealthy adults in the manufacturing hub of Shenzhen are spending up to 20,000 yuan ($3600) a month on a wet nurse.
"Clients can choose to consume breast milk directly through breastfeeding . . . but they can always drink it from a breast pump if they feel uncomfortable," Lin Jun, from the Xinxinyu Household Service Company, told the paper.
In an indication that the TV series Little Britain has yet to reach China, Mr Lin said breast milk was popular among wealthy adults with highpressure jobs and poor health.
"Breast milk is the best tonic, especially for those people who have undergone major surgery," he said.
While the medical literature does not appear to support the claim, Mr Lin looks to have a thriving business.
He told the Southern Metropolis he was now scouring the country looking for young, healthy mothers who were prepared to do the job.Concerns about exploiting young women
Most of Mr Lin's current crop of wet nurses have been hired from poor rural areas in China, raising concerns about exploitation and debate about whether the practice is even legal.
The employment contract under which the women are retained describes them as either a nanny, cook or housekeeper.
But among China's multitude of other problems – corruption, a toxic environment and a slowing economy – this looks to be a low priority for the police.
"Consuming human breast milk is quite popular among my social circle . . . spending 10,000 to 20,000 yuan hiring a wet nurse is not uncommon at all," the Southern Metropolis quoted an anonymous source as saying.
"Only a few people would suck breast milk directly from a wet nurse's nipples."
Demand for wet nurses for infants is also increasing, due to a series of tainted milk scandals across China in recent years.
Butlers also in demandThe other high-end service growing in demand by wealthy Chinese is a British butler.
It's called the "Downton Abbey effect", after the hit television show set in a British country house.
This has seen demand for British butlers in China outstripping supply, and a host of butler schools opening to train locals in the finer points of service.
The latest to open was the British Butler Institute, which has outposts in Lagos, Delhi and Brussels.
One of its trainers, Nicholas Bonell, said a butler could show China's wealthy the finer points of etiquette, such as where to place a bouillon spoon or how to respond correctly to a cocktail party invitation.
"New money wants to emulate old money and it does so by acquiring the trappings of old money – works of art for instance, but also a butler," he told That's Shanghai magazine.
Fairfax Media Management Pty Limited
Document AFNR000020130703e9740002u
