The Missing Cutlery

By Claudia Ng

Since the school’s opening, RCHK has provided lunch for students. However, recently, the school has faced a crisis of cutlery with thousands of items going missing over the course of the year.

This highly impacts our new catering provider, Sodexo. During August 2024, this problem was recognized, and posters about the missing cutlery were stuck to walls throughout RCHK, raising as much awareness as possible. Overall, more than 5072 pieces had gone missing since August, highlighting the seriousness of the situation.

A similar problem took place not long ago, when students constantly misplaced their finished lunch items. Students had been asked to put back used cutlery properly as it created unnecessary work for cafeteria staff. Despite the request, students still refused to listen, instead choosing to put their trays wherever they pleased, which is one possible cause of the missing cutlery occuring now.

So, why is so much cutlery going missing? A survey was sent out to the school with the results showing that out of 313 students, 12.5% of the students have admitted to throwing cutlery away. “It is an accident as when I was brushing the food off the plates the cutlery fell in the bin,” stated one student who wished to remain anonymous. However, some students claimed they threw them away on purpose because they were too lazy to put the cutlery in the collection bins.

“Of course, I am very surprised why so much cutlery is missing, right? Actually it’s really unacceptable.” Sally, the manager of Sodexo explained. “The salad bowls, noodle bowls, I don’t know why they're always missing. I really think students just throw the whole set into the rubbish bin. But of course forks and spoons are the main missing ones. Even in the toilet, there’s always so many plates and cutlery, students just leave them there.”

As of now, over 6000 pieces of cutlery have been missing since the beginning of August, which averages at least 1000 pieces of cutlery per month. If this continues, there is a chance that students will be required to bring their own cutlery, or purchase cutlery from the canteen. This has added a further burden on the staff of Sodexo as they are now required to count the cutlery weekly, and further investigate if more are missing.

“Pass the message to the students, ask them, just please, return the cutlery to our canteen or in the collection points.” Sally highly encourages students to place back the cutlery where they belong, to prevent further difficulties or future consequences, and to make life easier for all involved.