Do you like Milo? Of course you do. This is Singapore, and Milo is to Singapore what Tequila is to Mexico: a national institution. Kids drink it on Sports Day and adults drink it to sugar their sorrows. Once, I met a Singaporean in London who likened our Milo addiction to Charlie Sheen’s cocaine habit.

“I swear, we literally snort that shit by the bucket.”

However, what you might not know about Milo is the historical link to Tuberculosis and public health. In the late 1950s, Milo was not an accompaniment to your maggi goreng or three-piece chicken meal. It was used to boost children’s resistance to TB.

Since a well-fed child of healthy weight and adequate protein intake is ‘less likely’ to get TB, skimmed milk was given to young children at school. During recess, teachers would pick out the scrawniest, most malnourished-looking kids and give them The Milk Cure.

The good news: it was free. The bad news: everyone hated it because the milk had an ‘unpleasant odor’.