‘Cookhouse food’ at HCI gets thumbs down from S’poreans

SINGAPORE: Photos of some meals served at Hwa Chong Institution that were shared online lately have caused HCI to come under fire, as the food was described as looking as though it came from a cookhouse, or a military camp kitchen

In a post on Reddit on Jan 3, u/taenyfan95 shared pictures of two meals and captioned their post with “This is what secondary school kids at Hwa Chong Institution are given for lunch. I hope this doesn’t become a trend.”

To be fair, the most upvoted comment on the post came from a user on the platform who appeared to think the meal seemed healthy. However, they added, “but imagine eating this every recess for the rest of your life at school until you graduate.”

To this, the post author replied, “And then you eat it for another 2 years at NS. 8 years of your life eating this.”

Another chimed in to say that with primary schools “also going the central kitchen route,” students could be eating these kinds of meals for 14 years.

While a commenter wrote, “I see they are training male students to adapt their palate to SAF cookhouse meals,” another, however, chimed in with, “That looks worse than cookhouse food tbh.”

On a different note, a commenter lamented “canteen culture” with its “iconic” food stalls and “kind aunties and uncles, man.” They also said they were lucky to have already graduated.

“Tuckshop Nasi Lemak. Kids not experiencing that is a tragedy,” another agreed.

In October, HCI announced that starting from 2026, it would partner with SATS to manage a hybrid canteen at the school, which would allow students to use an app to order pre-prepared bento meals as well as choose offerings from a number of stalls.

More and more schools have come to replace the traditional set-up of their canteens, which had various stallholders, opting for a central kitchen instead.

What HCI has said

When contacted for comment, HCI spoke to CNA, saying that the photographs in u/taenyfan95’s Reddit post were not fully representative of the meals in its new canteen model.

“The school notes that a photograph circulating online does not accurately reflect the typical food offerings or portion standards under this arrangement,” HCI told CNA.

A spokesperson for the school also said that on Monday, student representatives, as well as parents, were invited to try the meal offerings at the canteen.

“Feedback indicated that portions were sufficient, food was served warm, and prices were reasonable,” CNA quoted the spokesperson as saying. /TISG

Read also: HCI counsellor who gave anti-LGBTQ+ presentation to students suspended, but school still questioned how it will prevent recurrence