SINGAPORE: A one-star food rating, a public scolding, and a warning that he was no longer welcome at the cookhouse were what one National Serviceman (NS) said he experienced after submitting a low rating for food at one of the camp cookhouses — an incident that quickly drew strong reactions from fellow servicemen alike.
Posting on the r/NationalServiceSG subreddit community forum, the NS man shared his account: “Cookhouse uncle said since I rated the food 1-star, he doesn’t want to see me at the cookhouse anymore. He also said he doesn’t wish to see me outside,” the serviceman wrote.
The NS man who identified himself as an artillery specialist “arty spec 23SA,” ended his post with a straightforward question many NSFs would ask themselves in similar situations: “What to do now?”
“Nobody can legally stop you from eating…”
The responses were swift and largely unanimous.
“So what? What is he going to do? Make you starve?” one commenter asked. “Nobody can legally stop you from eating at the cookhouse as long as it’s within the RO (Routine Orders) and you’re not on RIB (Restricted to In-Barracks) or MC (Medical Certificate).”
Others were quick to point out that cookhouse staff are vendors, not Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) personnel. “Cookhouse operator is a vendor and not part of SAF,” wrote one. “Although the cookhouse staff might get into trouble with a poor food review, it should have nothing to do with SAF.”
The commenter also advised the serviceman to document the encounter carefully and submit a report with the date, time, place, physical description of the staff, exact words used, and a citation of “manipulation of reviews” and intimidation.
Food contractors typically need to maintain “a >93% satisfactory rating…”
Several commenters offered context that many Full-time National Servicemen (NSF) may not be fully aware of.
One explained that food ratings can have financial implications, although not necessarily for individual staff. “The real story is the survey results will determine how much SAF needs to pay the food contractors,” the commenter said, adding that contractors typically need to maintain “a >93% satisfactory rating.”
Low ratings are especially common in training environments like the Basic Military Training Centre (BMTC), where new enlistees sometimes use the survey as an outlet for frustration. According to the commenter, this has led to questionable practices in the past, including supervisors keying in survey responses on behalf of soldiers.
“Number of rating stars given affects the cookhouse staff salary…”
Another former artillery specialist said the issue sounded familiar.
“While I was still serving, they told us that the number of rating stars given affects the cookhouse staff salary for the month,” he wrote — a claim others disputed, noting that servers do not cook the food.
More troubling was his allegation that “the manager coming out to intimidate anyone giving bad reviews has also been a known issue.” His advice was to report the incident up the chain, whether to the SATS cookhouse, the Army Safety Hotline, or higher command. He also recommended having a witness present “to corroborate and cover yourself.”
“Raise the issue to CSM (Company Sergeant Major), who will shoot it to the appropriate people…”
Many urged the serviceman not to confront the cookhouse staff directly.
“Raise the issue to CSM (Company Sergeant Major), who will shoot it to the appropriate people,” one commenter advised. “CO/RSM (Commanding Officer/Regimental Sergeant Major) engagement is also an appropriate moment to share such incidents.”
The same commenter added that similar confrontations had occurred before in his unit and were best handled formally rather than emotionally.
“My experience with this cookhouse uncles and aunties in the past has been quite nice…”
Not all responses were critical about this one particular cookhouse, though.
“My experience with this cookhouse uncles and aunties in the past has been quite nice,” one commenter shared, and added that it’s “Sad to hear it’s like this now.”
Still, the overall sentiment was that no one should feel threatened or barred from eating because of a food rating.
