Elderly man seen picking up leftover food from Our Tampines Hub Hawker Centre, says he doesn't want food to go to waste

A man, who appeared to be in his 60s or 70s, has been seen picking up leftover food from the Our Tampines Hub Hawker Centre on a daily basis.

A resident tipped Shin Min Daily News off after seeing the man pack food left on the hawker centre tables by diners.

He said the man was not dressed shabbily.

Asked why he did it

When asked why he was picking up leftover food, the man said he did not want the food to go to waste and was packing it for dinner.

This suggested that the man was likely dumpster diving.

The person who provided the tip-off said: "For some older people, it might just be that they don't want to waste food, so they take other people's leftovers home to eat, but I'm still worried about hygiene."

Some hawker centre staff have also seen the elderly person pick up the food but have not intervened out of avoiding any conflict.

Not the only person doing it

A cleaner at the hawker centre said she has seen another elderly man in his 70s do the same daily for the past four to five years.

She said she has also seen him buy drinks at the hawker centre and speculated that he might not be facing financial difficulties.

Practice appears not isolated

Another cleaner at People's Park Food Centre in Chinatown said she has seen other elderly people do the same.

About two to three elderly men would repeatedly pick food up from the tray return stations.

Health considerations

A doctor told Shin Min that eating leftovers scavenged from the hawker centre tables left behind by diners might increase the risk of food poisoning and spreading infectious diseases.

Cooked food left out for more than two hours would go stale, and those with weakened immune systems would face more health risks if they developed health problems, the doctor said.