The management team in charge of the ITAS (School of Informatics & IT and School of Applied Science) canteen, Flavours, has changed on 31st May 2019. Because of this, staff and stalls under the previous management will be replaced.

The most important question would be “Why is this article important?” This brings forth the impact that the closing of the canteen would have on students in Temasek Polytechnic, especially those from the School of Informatics & IT (IIT) and Applied Science, as well as the staff that were working under the previous management.

The story is newsworthy as it fulfills the criteria of Proximity since it concerns one of the five canteens in Temasek Polytechnic. The story also shows Consequences and Impact, since the change of management would mean that the store owners and cleaners would lose their jobs. The changing of stalls there would also affect students who often frequent the canteen, such as those from the School of IIT, Applied science and Humanities and Social Studies. Muslim students in Temasek Polytechnic would also be affected since most of the stalls there were halal, as compared to the lack of halal certified stalls in the other school canteens. As such, the story is an important piece of information which students within Temasek Polytechnic need to be aware of.

The sources that my partner and I gathered are from several store owners and cleaners under the previous management, as well as students we found eating at the canteen and around the canteen vicinity.

We interviewed the stall owner of the Western Food Stall, Jeff Foo. He stated that the change in management “affected all stalls” and left “the staff all jobless”. When asked about how he felt regarding the change, he said that he “cannot do anything” and that his only future plan was to find a new job.

Next, we also asked the owner of Snacks and Pastries, who wanted to be known as Mr Ang. He gave us further insight into why the change in management was happening. He felt that there was “no issue with the change” and that “the tenancy expired and the management does not want to renew” because of declining sales that led to them having “no profit”.

We also asked a cleaner that was working at the canteen, who wished to remain anonymous. We conversed in Chinese and she stated that she had “no time to wait” and would “just work elsewhere”.

We found Lim Yin Xuan and Desiree eating at the canteen. They are both year one students taking Diploma of Hospitality and Tourism in the School Of Business. When asked about the change, Yin Xuan told us that she was “aware of it but wanted to know why the canteen would suddenly go through such a change. However, they do not frequent the canteen often and felt that this change would “only affect students within [the] block”.

We also interviewed some students who were from the School of Applied Science. Firstly, we spoke to Lixin, a year one student. She told us that she “[went] to Flavours everyday” and expressed her confusion and shock toward the change. She said that she particularly “[enjoyed] the food from the ‘Snacks and Pastries’ store and would miss it.”

Afterwards, we interviewed Sabrina, another year one Muslim student who is studying for her Diploma in Pharmaceutical Science. She stated that “if [Temasek Polytechnic] thinks it is for the better than it is okay”. Despite this, she still found the change “upsetting”. She also cited her worries regarding the change as Flavours was “One of [the canteens with] more halal stores”. Much like Lixin, she visited Flavours everyday.