When I was serving my national service in Tengah Air Base a few years ago, our meals were usually packed as out-rations because our unit was located far from the cookhouse and it was not feasible for us to go back to the cookhouse for meals (Reduce food wastage at army camps, June 15).

Often, the clerk would over-indent the number of meals required just to be sure everyone has food to eat.

Also, as the personnel in my unit do not stay in camp, some of them would have their lunch before coming in for their shift. Others would eat at the canteen which churns out tastier food. These would lead to these meal packets not being picked up by the soldiers for whom they were catered.

These were just some reasons for the wastage in the small unit I was in. However, what perturbed me was how we were prohibited from passing these uneaten meals to contractors or non-Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) personnel working within the camp, such as the cleaners or workers. It would have been a good way to reduce food wastage.

But our superiors told us that the SAF did not want to be held responsible should non-SAF personnel fall ill from those leftover meals. As a result, we always threw away packets of leftover food at the end of the day.

It is a pity that food goes to waste this way.

Sean Lim Wei Xin