“BMTC serves special meal to recruits for CNY, includes pineapple tarts & oranges”
The Basic Military Training Centre (BMTC) commemorated the Chinese New Year (CNY) by treating its recruits to a special meal. The meal, specially curated by the BMTC cookhouse, was a gesture to mark the festive celebrations. In a Facebook post on Tuesday (28 Jan), it was stated that the cookhouse served up a unique spread for the occasion.
As observed from the photo, the festive set comprised of baked chicken with lemongrass and coriander, and steamed fish with ginger and lemon. The symbolic significance of including both chicken and fish was emphasized as representing good luck (吉祥) and prosperity (有余), stated BMTC. In addition to the meat dishes, the meal featured color pepper brown rice, stir-fry xiao pei chye with abalone and mushroom, braised tang hoon with crabmeat, and tau kee soup. Notably, the meal was complemented with pineapple tarts – a quintessential CNY snack in Singapore – and two oranges, symbolizing prosperity, good fortune, and happiness.
“The post, which has gained 800 likes, more than 100 shares and more than 150 comments, had netizens salivating over the meal. Some said the food looked much better than what recruits were served in the 70s. Another netizen echoed the thought, remarking that was ‘five stars’ compared with the fare of 30 or 40 years ago.”
While the post received positive feedback, there were also contrasting opinions. Some commenters expressed the view that home-cooked meals are always the best, and the recruits should be allowed to have reunion dinners with their families. The sentiment was mixed, reflecting differing perspectives on the significance of the special meal for the recruits.
