Soup kitchen in Singapore has served millions of meals to migrant workers in Little India

An Indian-origin former educator and her family have served some 10 million meals to migrant workers, mainly from India and Bangladesh, at a soup kitchen they established in 2018.

Knowing that getting authentic, wholesome Indian food was an issue in the Little India area, besides being expensive, Latha Govindasamy and her family provide free breakfast, lunch and dinner to the migrant workers at their Krsna's Free Meals kitchen, according to a feature carried by The Straits Times.

Volunteers and well-wishers joined in with donations during Covid and the workers themselves make some contribution for the soup kitchen's operation.

“My two sisters, their husbands and I started Krsna's Free Meals because our parents inspired us to always share our meals with the next person to forge a good bond and make people feel appreciated,” the newspaper quoted her as saying.

She added that giving the workers authentic food without compromising the taste would bring them cheer.

Initially, the family dipped into their savings to set up the soup kitchen but from 2019 onwards, the workers started contributing 50 cents each, making them feel part of a community.

After the COVID-19 pandemic hit in January 2020, people recognised that the eatery operated primarily on the family's money and volunteers stepped forward.

“We started having walk-in donations and people calling up and asking how they could help. So now, we put up all the ingredients we need for that week on Instagram every Monday,” Govindasamy said.

Govindasamy said she wants to serve more people with free meals and expand into the heartlands -- as the public housing estates are popularly called -- have a central kitchen and make food accessible to all Singaporeans, maybe even put up vending machines where senior citizens can get food, the newspaper reported.