Stop choosing products based on brand name

When I first became a father 25 years ago, I only wanted, like any other parent, to raise my child as best I could and to fulfil my child’s needs regardless of the cost, despite the fact that my income was not that high.

Even milk powder had to be branded. I chose the most expensive milk formula then, S26, which was twice the price of some other brands. I thought little of it, as I wanted my child to grow healthily.

I have started to realise that was not good judgment.

We often remind children not to play computer games too much to prevent them from getting addicted, yet we do the same by chasing branded products for the sake of the name. I see this as brand addiction.

The late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping once said the colour of the cat did not matter as long as it could catch mice — a theory that guided China’s economic reforms.

Now, our Government has pressed the button on formula milk, and parents will not struggle alone (Taskforce set up to address rising prices of formula milk by year-end; May 23).