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I AM writing this to your paper, being the largest in Sabah, to consider to raise awareness and the community in KK on food wastage.

I am a Sabahan and even though I am living outside of Malaysia at the moment, I come home often.

Each year that I return, I see the increase in tourists, as well as the city’s and the locals’ effort to accommodate their needs and wants. 

This time around, I noticed something really frustrating – food wastage. It started with my stay at Karambunai Nexus Resort. 

The stay comes with a breakfast buffet and it was here that I noticed the amount of food that has been left behind by other guests, mostly from China. 

These guests would pile up food on their plates as high as Akinabalu and eat just a tiny portion of it. 

Similarly, a larger scale of that process is happening here. We spend our resources to produce the ingredients of the food – for example, as a state, Sabah has been urged to focus on high value crops, like pineapple and durian, due to the high demand from other countries. 

We put in our resources to plant these crops – locals and business entities setting their lands, putting in their money, time and efforts to plant and harvest the fruits.

Then whenever the demand is high, we tend to increase the prices – as shops, hotels and restaurants would like to ensure that their paying customers get to enjoy these fruits (well, I guess not hotels when it comes to durian). 

However, the locals who would like to enjoy these fruits are also unwillingly affected by these prices. 

Then when you see these food wastages, it seems that these demands are driving up prices, only to have the received goods being wasted on the table.

And that’s only from an economic perspective. There’s also the impact on the environment – from clearing lands for farms, to the increase of CO2 level due to farming and transportation, and likely the increased use of plastic for packaging. 

So is putting our resources to meet these “demands” really worth it? Maybe I’m wrong, and I’m only seeing a tiny percentage of tourists wasting food. 

But how sure are we that all the things purchased are not being wasted? We can’t confirm that either.

I went out for lunch at Suria Sabah, and at a noodle shop, I noticed the same thing. Bowls of noodles left unfinished and plates of dishes ordered barely touched. 

I’m on my fourth day here at the resort and seeing the amount of food being wasted here is a daily occurrence at this rate. 

I have attached pictures to prove my point; do note that the pictures are all taken in the span of 5 minutes in one morning – proves another point that it’s not just one person doing it, multiple tables are doing it at the same time. 

Makes you wonder about the frequency of this happening in this resort.

I asked the staff and they said it happens on a regular basis. 

When I asked about what the hotel is planning on doing about it, they are not too sure (understandably, as they are not responsible for making these decisions). 

Then it makes you wonder, if it happens in one resort and one eatery, surely it happens in more hotels and restaurants? I dare not imagine the amount of food being wasted on city level.

I want to make clear that I am not blaming the problem on food wastage solely on tourists from Mainland China. 

Sometimes, my eyes get bigger than my stomach too, and I take way too much food then what I can eat. But then I either take it away with me, or give it to whoever else is eating with me. 

On an individual level, I think there’s a lot that we can do to curb food wastage. 

But here’s an easy win for businesses to take – if you as a business can take steps to reduce the wastage caused by tourists, imagine the costs that you will be able to reduce over the long term. 

Some steamboat restaurants have a fine for food wastage, why don’t we implement these across the city, especially for buffet restaurants and hotels? 

Otherwise, have your waiter to remind tourists to try a small portion before ordering more.

I’ve also been to restaurants that only allow you to go for a second round after you have finished or cleared the plates that you have on your table. 

There are a lot of ways for businesses to curb this issue.

I hope this is able to raise some awareness about this situation.

Rina

The views expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Express. If you have something to share, write to us at: Forum@dailyexpress.com.my