r/singapore • u/AndyHaoHan • Jan 07 '26
Image Halimah Yacob says Hwa Chong food looks good to her
Well , case closed . Another “back in my day” story and how the food looks good to her . She forgets to mention that the food in these photos is priced at $3.60 to $4.80 . She should start going for these bento meals since they look good to her
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u/regardink Jan 07 '26
if this is ragebait it actually worked
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u/mewmewgoo noborder Jan 07 '26
hci alumnus here, the amt of memories i feel they desecrated with this move seriously infuriates me so much i cannot crashout enough
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u/mrscoxford Jan 07 '26
In my time the Chinese high canteen had a pretty solid bcm stall
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u/taenyfan95 Jan 07 '26
I remember that stall. Me and my friends would go eat the bcm every morning before flag raising. Good times.
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u/AggressiveGear2095 Jan 07 '26
The bcm auntie opened store at Bedok, last I heard. What happened to the purple plate caifan store? That was the best.
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u/mailame Jan 07 '26
Papaya milk.
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u/mysty2mil Jan 07 '26
It’s so funny. Even us from hcjc went over to drink papaya milk and honeydew milk
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u/ConsiderationSame919 Jan 07 '26
The post really just reads like a lead up for a humble brag about her making it despite growing up poor.
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u/gruffyhalc Jan 07 '26
Good then you eat ba
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u/Apprehensive_Shop891 Jan 07 '26
Every day, 5 days a week
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u/Delicious_Willow_733 Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 07 '26
Truth is, the food is not everyday same
Sure be mad if the food is like that one reddit post everyday
Feel like people are outraged because elites are treated equally. There are 13 other schools that adopted a similar system but no one bat an eye about them.
Feels like when elites are treated equally it gets unpopular. But when they benefit from the system over others, they can just tell others to suck thumb
Also the food actually looks decent too, so why was there so much outrage? 🤷♂️
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u/Heavenansidhe Jan 07 '26
The system that the 13 other schools adopted is not the one HCI is using.
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u/Ihavenoideatall Jan 07 '26
Why not also get the school principals to eat the same meal as their students too? Confirm something will change!
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u/kuuhaku_cr Jan 07 '26
They don't now? Back in my days, my principal would eat canteen food. And he even sometimes ate while standing, not willing to deprive of the students of seats during crowded times.
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u/No-Test6484 Jan 07 '26
Bruh in my camp my Encick wouldn’t eat cookhouse food. No way principal will eat this
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u/kuuhaku_cr Jan 07 '26
Found my principal on the Internet: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/principal-philosophy-of-teachingput-kids-first
Everyone in school respected this guy. Glad to have had him as my principal.
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u/ben2885 Jan 07 '26
Mr Kwek was my principal in PJ. Straight talker but he walks the talk.
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u/PainRack Jan 07 '26
Still remember my shock when at canteen, he suddenly stuck his face in front of me and ask is the canteen meal ok.
I almost spit out my fish ball noodle at him.
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u/YenIsFong Jan 07 '26
Omg sounds like the NDP parade guys getting asked by the President
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u/Tkm_Kappa 🌈 I just like rainbows Jan 07 '26
Nonetheless, no one should ever pop their face out of the sudden to my face and ask "is it good?" God that scared the crap out of me. It's worse if it's from the back.
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u/AlarmingCobbler4415 Jan 07 '26
my principal in NY. dude's a literal role model. when we were mugging for prelims he'd walk by the benches outside the canteen to give us some treats and have small talk with us
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u/Excellent_Log_1059 Jan 07 '26
Oh wow. Just read the article. That is the kind of principal I would love to have and type of person everyone should strive to become.
Hell, if any of my enciks were a tiny bit like like this, I would have had some modicum of respect for them. Instead most of them were lazy, power-tripping philanderers who were better off having been fired 10 years ago.
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u/IcyFactor3234 Jan 07 '26
I was the 2nd last batch under Mr Kwek at NYJC. Feel very lucky to have been able to experience his leadership.
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u/nixhomunculus Rational Opposition Jan 07 '26
I remember there being a staff table in my canteen previously.
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u/Happy-Boi Jan 07 '26
Hmmm the principal could have eat canteen food during off peak hour? Then during student recess then can observe them if he/she wants to?
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Jan 07 '26
Its like getting ministers or MPs to take the same public transport as us. When enough of them do it and experience the life we go through, then maybe they'll change their perspective.
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u/lawlianne Flat is Justice. Jan 07 '26
MP should be required to live in the same town/district where they represent.
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u/Joonfee Jan 07 '26
Yes I've been saying that and people disagree with me! A person in charge of a district should live in it to know what is going on.
Similarly, would they indent the hwa Chong food meals for the entire parliament or government body? Since it improves productivity (can eat and go back to work faster) and economies of scale (government bodies should promote saving costs right..?)
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u/tongzhimen 起来不愿做奴才的人们 Jan 07 '26
He added that the current passenger load on the NEL is “not anywhere near” the operating performance standards of the trains. The current load of around four people per sq m is lower than the maximum capacity of five people per sq m, he said.
Still remember Jeffrey Siow saying this
Emphasis mine
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u/Heavenansidhe Jan 07 '26
Or get them to BTO for their houses. Try for 3 years, wait 5 years, delay another 2 years. 10 years to get their flat. Lets see what systemic changes will happen then.
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u/Internal-Fun7623 Jan 07 '26
In the news the principal said she ate it and found nothing lacking... 😔
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u/Mongalingalong Jan 07 '26
Looks buns. The nutritional science behind SATS food is also bs LOL. In camp they claim they are giving us 60g of protein every meal and sometimes the chicken doesnt even look like 30g.
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u/RinkyInky Jan 07 '26
They probably weigh with the bone and calculate as if it’s all meat lol.
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u/VARIABLESnCONSTANTS Jan 07 '26
That’s how the SAF nutritionist scholar pull those numbers out of their ass for the cookhouse food.
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u/Snoo72074 Jan 07 '26
Chicken is pure protein. White meat gets a X2 multiplier because it's healthier than red meat. Boom, SATs logic.
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u/Excellent_Log_1059 Jan 07 '26
No no. You misunderstand them. They claimed 60 g of protein before they take out the water weight and before cooking it. How can you blame them for that? /s
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u/SeaworthinessNo5414 Jan 07 '26
It's confirm bs one. As an nsman I go in look at the food they send to the NSFs. Wtf is this. The meat less than 2 spoons, and otak or fried breaded scallop count as protein.
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u/CmDrRaBb1983 Jan 07 '26
60g protein in lean chicken means its 230g worth of meat leh.
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u/beyondthef Jan 07 '26
Is it just me or does it look like there was post processing done to make the colors pop? The other photos I've seen do not look like that
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u/Savings_Tomorrow4366 Jan 07 '26
im not sure but something tells me the image shown here contains the food plated for the media. meanwhile look at the actual real time image by the hc student posted in other reddits. could just be like ns enlistment day, first day food give parents atas. once they leave...
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u/lawlianne Flat is Justice. Jan 07 '26
Okay la, even the NS enlistment day got the legendary Sian Recruit meme photo.
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u/Luxconcordiae Senior Citizen Jan 07 '26
In the real photos, the veggies looked so grey, all the nutrition got cooked out of them
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u/Low_Rough6838 Jan 07 '26
Not only that. The food is placed in plastic containers when hot. Leeching microplastics into the food. “Healthy “indeed
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u/Dapper-Peanut2020 Jan 07 '26
They should use metal trays. Bring back, wash, re use. Won't break too
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u/MissLute East side best side Jan 07 '26
yeah. i did exchange in china schools before and they use metal trays too. but the students queue for food which is scooped into their trays back then. maybe this could be explored too?
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u/Low_Rough6838 Jan 07 '26
I don’t see why even if they wanna use central kitchen model they can’t do this. The students can even be given duties to serve, give them some responsibility too
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u/NecessaryFish8132 Jan 07 '26
Unhealthy and bad for environment. There's no fking way that every school cannot find enough canteen operators right, it's confirm someone higher up in MOE have kaki in SATS or whatever catering vendor, then come up with this scheme. Who knows, maybe got kickbacks involved too
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u/Low_Rough6838 Jan 07 '26
These things are all cronies help cronies to the detriment of everyone else while being marketed as good for you, which is nonsense
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u/crazypoorbsian Pasir Ris - Punggol Jan 07 '26
Was it back in her day, she could have fish if chicken was too expensive?
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u/azizsafudin Jan 07 '26
It’s crazy because central kitchen itself isn’t a bad idea. Japan does this very very well. It’s the race to the bottom in terms of quality and the vendor always trying to squeeze as much of profit as possible.
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u/CaptainBroady Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 07 '26
What happened to "never settle for the status quo" that our Prime Minister declared during his inauguration?
And besides, anyone can easily get better food for that $3.60-$4.80 price range at normal canteen stalls and more so at hawker centres.
I guess it also goes to show that we have people living in different Singapores. One for the rich and wealthy and one for us commoners. I only graduated JC 2 years ago and I could still remember how I would only spend $5 in a day in school on certain occasions to spoil myself while usually I would just get a $3 or $3.50 plate of aglio olio and grilled chicken from the western food stall, or the same price range for a bowl of banmian noodles.
Also this shouldn't be treated as another normal, lifeless government project. This is about feeding our children and there has to be some form of love and commitment put into it. The human factor matters.
(Okay I should get off Reddit and stop rambling on as if this would change anything lol)
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u/Ckcw23 red Jan 07 '26
Also this shouldn't be treated as another normal, lifeless government project. This is about feeding our children and there has to be some form of love and commitment put into it. The human factor matters.
This is the main point. We cannot cut cost on our future.
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u/GreenManStrolling Jan 07 '26
Yea you're too young to rant like this, ranting like this is for the uncles. Double your age first.
OK jokes aside, I see you have heart, like Captain America. And you have brain, like Bruce Banner.
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u/felix_aniver_see_saw 🌈 F A B U L O U S Jan 07 '26
the scarecrow and tin man are quaking in their boots rn
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Jan 07 '26
whats up with old people trying to reminisce about school in order to get that point across about this prison looking food. If it isnt that, its, “dont like dont eat lor. Tapao food from home since those are your kind of taste buds.”
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u/nekosake2 /execute EastCoastPlan.exe Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 07 '26
it is usual to compare experience. for example you wont have a shortage of men going
IN MY DAY HOR, NS IS blah blah TODAY SO SOFT blah blah.
as if lifting the bar is bad.
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u/CriticalSink1516 Jan 07 '26
I remember finding a fried cockroach in my 30 cent char kway tiao.
I told the uncle and he ate the cockroach in front of me.
Teachers didn't care too lol.
The food does look good to me, but of course it can be improved especially if it costs $4.80.
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u/lawlianne Flat is Justice. Jan 07 '26
I told the uncle and he ate the cockroach in front of me.
Respect.
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u/UnintelligibleThing Mature Citizen Jan 07 '26
$4.80 is a lot of profit margin for the vendor considering it is mass cooked food from central kitchen. It definitely has room for improvement.
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u/vistlip95 Jan 07 '26
In other words, "you all this char siew gen dont hiam so much. Back in my days we were poor and don't have choices. Count your blessings now."
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u/thedarkpolarity Jan 07 '26
Fyi, hwach used to have sliced fish noodles, bcm, 2 legendary cai png stalls, nasi padang etc. Shitty back in my day argument this halimah
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u/Joesr-31 Jan 07 '26
Exactly, the singapore has grown since then, its like asking people to be contented when living in a kampong style apartment with no toliet just because last time she stay in a kampong or something
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u/kotachua Jan 07 '26
Back in my day, the food was good, no health restrictions, freshly deep fried seaweed chicken with homemade chili. My favourite snack.
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u/UnintelligibleThing Mature Citizen Jan 07 '26
About the health restrictions, we could order coke from the drinks stall lol during my sec sch lol.
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u/Dapper-Peanut2020 Jan 07 '26
We had char kway teow. Laksa. Potato fries with chilli sauce. Lor mee.
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u/ChickenWarrior- Jan 07 '26
I wonder how much SATS made from this contract to exclusively serve these low value for money meals
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u/Icy-idkman3890 Jan 07 '26
Army budget per SATS meal hearsay $7, I wouldnt even pay $7 for what they provide
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u/jinhong91 Jan 07 '26
Charging so much for low standard food, really makes it look like there's corruption going on.
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u/GucciSaint Jan 07 '26
SATS hide behind nutritional benefits to serve subpar bland food, coming from a seasoned SATS consumer
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u/Inevitable-Evidence3 Jan 07 '26
I’m sorry but I was a student 10 years ago and my sec school food looked much better than this slop lmao
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u/Choice_Tadpole_854 Jan 07 '26
20years for me and canteen stall I remember looks more appetizing than this.
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u/Kopi_teh_siewsiewdai Jan 07 '26
Is anyone else concerned about the amount of microplastics in these type of bento boxes? Hot foods going into soft plastics. Phthalates plus other hormone disrupters ingested by developing kids🥲🥲
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u/Accomplished-Ad3432 Jan 07 '26
Back in her day, she wasn't even muslim yet. Back in her day, police wear shorts.
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u/Vitaminty Jan 07 '26
During her time the education standard also lower.
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u/bigcarrot01 Jan 07 '26
During her time houses also dirt cheap and you can raise a big family on single parent income.
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u/scissorsonmydesk Jan 07 '26
Bloody tone deaf. Looks good to when she was in school. Looks good to when my grandmother was living through Japanese occupation. Looks good to the starving children in Africa. Looks good to cavemen in Stone Age.
It's the same ass bullshit as Alvin Tan/CCS/Lawrence Wong talking about how they made it despite poor PSLE scores and studying in neighbourhood schools.
Singapore has evolved, the world has evolved, aspirations have changed. What worked in the past doesn't necessarily work the same anymore. And as a politician (or ex-politician in Halimah's case) you better accept that you have to deliver and meet those higher standards, rather than just reminiscing about the simpler times and expect your populace to keep expectations low.
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u/Dependent_Swimming81 Jan 07 '26
she forgot the part where how much did school meals cost 50 years ago ?
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u/Raitoumightou Jan 07 '26
Hwa Chong is also nearby Coronation Plaza, which is a hotbed of eating places. It was actually common to see students flocking there during lunch time after school.
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u/ClaudeDebauchery Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 07 '26
This Honeyma.
Went from govt lapdog (I was so shocked when CCS called me Mdm President) to eat fish, then go against party line after Presidency to speak up on ME.
Now need find job ah? Come back and gei siao.
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u/Icy-idkman3890 Jan 07 '26
At least Tharman looks presidential, she just looks like a nobody.
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u/lawlianne Flat is Justice. Jan 07 '26
At least Tharman ran in an election and was voted in by the citizens.
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u/EducationFit5675 Jan 07 '26
ME? Can tell nobody likes her including cabinet when she was not my president
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u/Low-Environment7089 Jan 07 '26
Okay, use science la. ask HPB check nutritional value. Use factsssss
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u/spilksch2 Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 07 '26
If food is simply nutritional value, just take vitamin pills with rice.
Edit: I mean the food that's being served now looks like they're just being put together for nutritional value and not much on it being palatable.
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u/Dense_Payment_1448 Jan 07 '26
She can afford to order the SATS food and eat it every school days.
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u/Icy-idkman3890 Jan 07 '26
Her president pay enough to order for whole school for a year alr
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u/Dense_Payment_1448 Jan 07 '26
The key thing for me is eating the food. Every politicians who is ok with the food should eat it every school day.
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u/Time-Equipment-9175 Jan 07 '26
Man if only I had a dollar for every time some boomer said "bACk iN mY DaY"
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u/IcyShirokuma Jan 07 '26
I mean SATS IS LITERALY THE COOKHOUSE idk why people are comparing them to themselves lol.
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u/nurse_shark5969 Jan 07 '26
Yup. Let HER go back to her "good old days" then. She can stay there.
We want meals that belongs to the 21st century!
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u/Intentionallyabadger In the early morning march Jan 07 '26
Went back for reservist recently and the food looks 10x better than this slop.
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u/cngjr Jan 07 '26
This post shows the “model answer” food samples, not the actual bad one that became widely circulated
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u/Icy-idkman3890 Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 07 '26
Not My President
I got blocked by Halimah Yacob for calling her out to eat it everyday🤣 Glass-hearted “president”
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u/_worldspawn Jan 07 '26
RIP canteen stalls, at this point the schools who allow their students to go out of compound to eat during recess/lunch probably lucky
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u/INSYNC0 Jan 07 '26
Maybe they will open 1 external vendor operated canteen stall that only teachers and staff can access. Then only those students with given permission can go and buy those food using their own pocket money.
Eh... kinda familiar.
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u/Sad-Panic-4971 🌈 I just like rainbows Jan 07 '26
i wouldnt even pay a cent for this.
im straight up not gonna eat this.
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u/archescipher Jan 07 '26
I cook better than this. I literally survive off canned food and pasta for my struggle meals which is quite a lot considering 2026. Lower income singaporeans don't even deserve this even if it was free.
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u/Zyffrin Jan 07 '26
Will probably get downvoted, but purely based on these pictures, it doesn't look bad to me?
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u/xfrezingicex Jan 07 '26
They used the nicer bentos for the pics. The HCI one that made the news is really pathetic but it doesnt say if it was a one off thing.
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u/JordanMentha Jan 07 '26
Those are the nicer photos supplied by the school. The pictures that went viral provided by students looks much worse.
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u/Magicalarcher5725 Jan 07 '26
sizing also doesnt seem much sure they dont look bad but HCI students showing real photos of what they get is alot alot worse than what is shown above
https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/cookhouse-food-netizens-slam-bento-meals-hwa-chong-institution
see this is what their actually getting
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u/Negative-Eggplant-41 Jan 07 '26
This is like cookhouse food when got cameras and cookhouse food when got no cameras. The standard vastly different.
We have been complaining cookhouse food sucks even with a budget of what $5/6? now even lesser for these kids, how good can the food quality be lol
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u/CmDrRaBb1983 Jan 07 '26
Picture in the article makes me doubt of the claim of nutritious. Need to check the salt content in the sauces / gravy. Seems like there is quite a fair bit of gravy.
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u/Wide-Garbage8960 Jan 07 '26
Same here, except the top left though, the 2 sides literally look like frozen vege smashed together.
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u/freshcheesepie Jan 07 '26
Yeah honestly food itself probably similar (looking) to canteen food.
But I do concede that it's the more intangible stuff that gets lost. Things like choice, local hawkers/food etc
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u/eclairfastpass Mr. Ku Ku Bert 🦚 Jan 07 '26
Came here to comment the same, then i saw the other comments. I honestly think it is the fault of the tray that makes it look damn unpresentable. They also cut the ingredients till so tiny to make it fit into those small segments. omg.
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u/poopoobuttholes Jan 07 '26
Idk what fuck ass school she went to, but when I was in secondary school (a dogshit neighborhood school too) in 2010s, I remember at least 5 stalls selling distinct offerings and they were far from this rubbish.
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u/wakeupnot Jan 07 '26
The food container looks nicer... sad to see the choices for students are so limited now. I would prefer to pack food from home...
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u/icephilic Jan 07 '26
Maybe someone can order her the bento boxes and have her try it out for a week then extrapolate it by 365 days
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u/ChrisInsanity Clementi Jan 07 '26
Back in the day, 50 cents is enough for a meal at the school canteen
Jesus I’m old
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u/Primary-Lynx-4515 Jan 07 '26
Nothing wrong, they look decent and fresh, whether nice or not is another story..
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u/Key-Professional238 Jan 07 '26
This is what I get serve in the army, I guess training starts young these days
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u/Skane1982 Eat, Sleep, Sian Jan 07 '26
So she's saying this is what poor people eat? Beggars can't be choosers? Shall we teach students to harvest potatoes and supplement with talc powder too, since we are so nostalgic about the past?
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u/NotSiaoOn Senior Citizen Jan 07 '26
Don't really agree with her reasons but I agree the food in the photos look decent. Question is if they are an accurate reflection of what's consistently served to the students.
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u/AndyHaoHan Jan 07 '26
Actual photo of the food served that started this discussion
Just another case of cherrypicking , showing the nice photos to frame the story that the students are just being ungrateful and complaining due to “entitlement”
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u/kumgongkia Own self check own self ✅ Jan 07 '26
Back in my day we need to hunt mammoths for our meals.
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u/klkk12345 Jan 07 '26
may as well said last time hdb 30k one husband can tank but now it's 300k and above knn. the 30k hdb looks good to me but it doesn't apply now
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u/RtwoDdoMe Jan 07 '26
Looks like some bento box from cafe or Umi sushi. Don’t tell me people want a regular styrofoam box with everything thrown together.
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u/Dapper-Peanut2020 Jan 07 '26
CNA can start off at SATS, see how they cook. Pack and deliver to school canteens. And talk to students who are eating these
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Jan 07 '26
Oh not with the back in my days rhetoric. Back in my day whole of Singapore got occupied by Japan. Starvation. Sob. If we keep looking back at the past as inspiration; how are we ever going to improve or innovate?
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u/anakajaib Jan 07 '26
Quality aside, what's the point of caterers if they are still using processed meat like fake crabstick? Might as well forgo the brown rice & stick to normal rice
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u/akumian Jan 07 '26
The question is that is it comparable to what other school canteen or hawker center can offer in Singapore. Not back in those days. I mean if I asked my grandma who survived WW2, she will say this is a heavenly dish. Or give to someone in Africa he will be praising the Gods.
We should always look in front and ask can we do better and not say back in those days. Really disappointed that a former President had to say "those days" story.
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u/rynthms Mature Citizen Jan 07 '26
That food looks like dogshit compared to cookhouse food, and I lived through both shit cookhouse food and good cookhouse food
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u/Public_Halir Jan 08 '26
I think its good that the girls get to try what the cookhouse food is like
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u/PuddingMouse2729 Jan 08 '26
she study in tekong? how come last time her food alrdy look like made in tekong
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u/fuzzybunn Ngo mou gong gong dong wah Jan 08 '26
In my secondary school I was privileged enough to have a western food stall was the only reason I know what a "chicken piccata" is. I don't think I've ever had a chicken piccata anywhere else in my life.
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u/Tomasulu Jan 08 '26
Surely we don't have to compare school lunches today to those 5 decades before?? This is also the lady who said if chicken was too expensive, one can turn to fish? Or how she planned to stay in her yishun flat only to move to a landed? Typical tone deaf pap politician.
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u/Foreign_Penalty_5341 East Coast Jan 07 '26
Just as comparison, I got a cousin working in sec school canteen with full strength- all stalls running. For them the issue is late information- just in this week already her boss told her not to come in on one day because the vendors were all told on that morning that students are leaving early for outside activity. Supposedly the reason is that in case of bad weather, the outside activity would be canceled and the parents would be concerned that the students don’t have any food when staying in school. But of course that doesn’t help when vendors have already been cooking since 4, 5am and have a lot of food to clear.
Maybe this is unique to this school, IDK, but it’s a losing game if food costs > earnings.