Wasting Food

Do you think this is common in Indonesia? I doubt so, but different case in Singapore, where I have witnessed a lot of people throw away uneaten food packet or left-overs. Sadly, as a more developed country, the people began to value things less. I am not used to this habit as my mother always forces me to finish the food that I have taken and I am thankful for what my mother has taught me about food.

Recently, I just had my drama club camp (which is my Co-Curicullar Activity in SJI). Holding the responsibility for the catering, I decided to order the food from a stall in my school, which the owners are Indonesians, like myself. I called her "Mak", a woman roughly at her 40s wearing a veil and spectacles, and we have arranged the timing and the number of food packets to be served. Not only that, we stole some time to discuss about the Singaporean habit of wasting food, and she recounted her childhood, "I was from a poor family and getting food was not that easy." She continued, "Mak do not have any problems if you want to order so many packets although it is during the holiday. But Mak feels sad when people throw away the food that Mak has cooked. Is there something wrong with the food? Is it tasteless?" Her anxiety certainly stroke me although I seldom waste food since I always follow my mother's saying but my experience witnessing people wasting food did.

Do we thank God before our meal? Or do we just take it for granted?

I hoped Mak did not know what we did to her food, especially what my teachers did. Every meal we threw away 5-8 packets and at the last dinner we threw away half bucket of rice and half a tray of vegetables. Sadly, my teachers did not seem to try hard to get rid of the food by giving it to someone else, rather they just easily said to throw them away. What disappointed me the most is when we went out for supper at McDonald's although 2 of my teachers still had not eaten their food packet back in the school. It ended up countless of ants gathered around the left packet food which made them inedible. My heart was hammered in the core when my teachers said lightly with his hand waving in the air to throw them away although actually he was responsible for them since he had not eaten his allotment.

Then, why do the Singaporean government has to import a lot of food from other countries? Why do the scientists have to struggle in making plants that produce more food if many people are wasting their food? And, why do this happen to the Singaporeans? Were they not taught by their parents to eat every single grain of rice on the plate? Do they know about the condition of unfortunate people in the world? I assume they know since most of them are educated people, but this is the downturn of a developed country. Most Singaporeans live in an acceptable condition compared to Indonesians where they live in slums and crossroads have become their 'work field'. Slums and these hapless people are visible everywhere in Jakarta, where Singaporeans are not exposed to these scenes, but to glamorous Orchard Road or the extravagant Resort World of Sentosa. As a result, they become less tolerant and ultimately perceive food as an easy thing to be reached.

I am thankful that I am allowed to grow in the two contrast living conditions where I can juxtapose them and allow me to think more intensely. The society has taught the people what to do and hence transformed the way they think. It is the responsibility of the government to keep Singaporeans in contact with all sorts of environment with education and infrastructure planning. They cannot be continually exposed to a profligate lifestyle but kept closing one eye to the 'back of the yard'.