Translated from Lian He Zao Bao. This article appeared on May 13, 2002

A group of warm-hearted cyclists, since December last year, have been training for 8 hours every weekend. This is in the hope of raising S$300,000 for the Children’s Cancer Foundation through Charity Ride next month.

The 30 riders from Bike-Aid (Singapore), a non-profitable organisation, will commence riding from Hatyai on the 3rd of June. They will ride for an approximate distance of 1162 km, passing through Malaysia and arriving in Singapore on the 9th of June at about 4 pm. President Nathan will present each rider with a mememto/certificate of appreciation.

According to David Hoong, the President of Bike-Aid, this year’s riders age are between 17 and 57 years old. Amongst them will be 8 riders from Thailand. Every week, the riders do a round-island training ride. Each ride is about 130 km. After 24 weeks & 200 hours of training, they will embark on the long journey next month.

Prudential is the main sponsor for this year’s event. Archie Ong, a consultant with the company will be participating in this charity ride for the 3rd time. The 53-years- old veteran, in addition to training regularly with the group, also finds time to do his own training (like running up and down the stairs). During training, he wears a heart-rate monitor on his chest to monitor his riding speed & efforts.

Each of these charity riders, on top of footing their own expenses, will need to raise S$5000 in donations.

A lady rider, Ong Siew Chin (28 years old, an accountant) learnt of this event from friends and joined the group in March. Her family and friends are very excited and supportive, canvassing other relatives and friends for donations. Hence, the collections have snowballed and have exceeded S$5,000. She said, “one person’s effort has its limitation; when everybody works hard together, the results will be better”.

The youngest rider in the group, 17-year old Vicknesh feels that he is only doing what a cyclist would do. This will bring happiness to others. Gavin Aitken from Scotland said that when his friends and relatives knew of this event, they started remitting donations from overseas. They hope to lend what little efforts they can’.

CCF Charity Drive Department Manager, Tan Annie, hopes that these warm-hearted riders’ “giving willingly and asking nothing in return” spirit can attract more of the general public to come forward to help the sick children. Benevolent members of the public wishing to help the cause, can call 68356464 or go to the website http://www.ccf.org.sg to download the donation forms.

Many thanks to Mr Franz Huang for translating this article that appeared in the
Lian He Zao Bao Chinese daily newspaper on 13 May 2002.
We apologize for any errors in the translation and no guarantee of accuracy can be made,.

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This article printed from ChannelNewsAsia.com
Date :10 June 2002 1849 hrs (SST) 1049 hrs (GMT)

Volunteer cyclists raise $300,000
for Children’s Cancer Foundation

By Julia Ng

Going the extra mile for charity.
Well, 35 cyclists pedalled 1,100-km to raise money for cancer-stricken children.

For seven days, the cyclists – 29 from Singapore and six from Thailand – braved scorching sun, rough terrain and sheer exhaustion.

Cycling up to 10 hours a day, they even missed the World Cup action on their trek from Hatyai to Singapore.

Dr William Tan, Bike Aid Singapore volunteer, said: “The journey from Hatyai, there are a lot of hills and pot holes as well. They were 28 punctures among all of us.

“A number of cyclists also fell off the road, they sustained some bruises. But they are very courageous, they bounced back and continued.”

For many of the Bike Aid Singapore members, this is not the first time they have cycled all the way back from Hatyai to raise money.

But there were some first-timers, like 72-year-old British-born Bob Usher.

The oldest cyclist in the group, he found the going tough.

Mr Usher, Thai biking volunteer, said: “We had to get up at 4.30 in the morning, jump on our bicycle, and try and grab some food on the way so that we can get here on time.”

But it was all for a good cause – to raise some $300,000 for the Children’s Cancer Foundation (CCF).

Their efforts earned them the praise of both President S.R. Nathan and CCF patron, Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee.

CCF will use the money to support cancer-stricken children and their families.

There are 100 new cases of childhood cancer each year.

Fund-raising group Bike Aid will pedal to Haadyai
in June to raise $200,000

CHRISTOPHER TAN reports

Geared for charity: the Bike Aid riders during a recent training ride to Mersing.

When was the last time you went to Thailand … on a bicycle?

Bike Aid, a cycling group, will do just that this June in the name of charity. It will be their fifth long-distance fund-raising ride since 1992.

The band of riders, which has grown to 35 from an initial eight (largely professionals and businessmen), will pedal to Haadyai in an attempt to raise $200,000. They aim to complete the 1,035 km trip via the east coast in 140 hours – or within six days.

The task is similar to one which they accomplished two years ago, when a group of 10 raised $115,000 for the Hospice Care Association – also by riding to the southern Thai city (but via a slightly shorter route along the west coast).

Previous rides have yielded between $25,000 and $60,000. In all, the group has raised $250,000 for various independent or semi-independent charity organizations in the last six years.

Not an unimpressive track record for a group that started out as an informal gathering of fellows who simply shared a common love: cycling. Part of the inspiration to put wheel-power to charity work came from a like-minded organization of the same name in the US.

This time round, the funds will be for the Kidney Dialysis Foundation (KDF), which provides subsidized dialysis treatment to needy people stricken with end-stage renal diseases.

Bike Aid president David Hoong said he’s quite confident of hitting the $200,000 target, despite the current economic climate.

“Of course when we started planning about a year ago, we didn’t quite take into account the situation now, but we should be able to hit the target because we now have quite a big group of fund-raisers,” he said.

As before, Mr Hoong is counting on corporations to be the biggest supporters. BT understands one listed company has pledged $2,000 for every hour the group manages to shave off its estimated trip time.

Motor distributor Cycle & Carriage has agreed to supply a support vehicle (a Mitsubishi multi-purpose vehicle), Yeo Hiap Seng will provide drinks and China Insurance will see to the coverage needs of the group during the ride.

The Mitsubishi MPV will be modified to accommodate a special participant in the fund-raising project: William Tan, a Paralympic athlete known for his charity efforts, who will join the cyclists on their journey in a wheelchair.

Dr Tan, a paraplegic since the age of two, once wheeled to Penang. Others in the group include 59-year-old Vincent Wee, a retiree and the oldest cyclist in the endeavour; Italian Valerio Maussier, managing director of an oilfield equipment firm; and Peter Lim, an ex-money broker who now runs his own employment agency.

“Many of the riders are professionals and businessmen in their forties,” said leader of the band Mr Hoong, a 45-year-old insurer.

Among the youngest in the group are two of Mr Hoong’s children – a 16-year-old boy and an 18-year-old girl, both national triathletes.

Incidentally, this trip also marks the debut of women riders. Including Mr Hoong’s daughter, four will match the men stride for stride in their quest.

Still in the planning stage is a “send-off party”, in which well-wishers can ride with the group to the Causeway for a token fee, which will also go to the KDF. In fact, every cent collected will go to the foundation; and costs involved in the ride itself will be borne by the cyclists and their sponsors, reiterated Mr Hoong. Community Development Minister Abdullah Tarmugi will flag off the group on June 6, 6.30am.

If you want to chip in, donations can be made either in cash or by cheque to the Kidney Dialysis Foundation. Receipts will be issued. For more information, contact BikeAid at 346-4466 or fax 741-4466.

The funds will be for the Kidney Dialysis Foundation (KDF), which provides subsidized dialysis treatment to needy people stricken with end-stage renal diseases. The target is $200,000.

Special participant: Dr Tan, a paralympic athlete, will join Bike Aid on their Thailand trip in a wheel chair.

Reproduced with kind permission of The Business Times, Singapore This article appeared in The Business Times, Thursday, April 16, 1998