COOKING UP A STORM

That warrant officer standing across the parade square might very well be a professionally trained chef.

And not surprisingly so, for the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), in a tie-up with Temasek Polytechnic, has begun to offer training courses to warrant officers in charge of messing and food.

A first batch of 25 warrant officers completed the one-week course in September, where they were instructed in topics such as hygiene, nutrition, healthy cooking, plating and service.

These officers attended the course in their capacity as messing supervisors - they are responsible for the day-to-day running of cookhouses in their respective camps.

Currently, SAF cookhouses are run by contractors such as Singapore Food Industries (SFI) and NTUC Foodfare. Messing supervisors oversee these contractors.

Kalpana Bhaskaran, lecturer in the Temasek Polytechnic's School of Applied Science, found the warrant officers "excellent students".

"They were a joy to teach, and I had a great time imparting all this knowledge to them," she said.

One of the students, Second Warrant Officer (2WO) Chua Choon Hiap from 41st Battalion, Singapore Armoured Regiment, was highly appreciative of the course.

"This course is good because it's related to our job," said 2WO Chua. "The knowledge and skills we learnt in the course can be applied in our unit."

"We want to impart the knowledge of good nutrition to our servicemen."