TOP executives at NTUC Income are bending over backwards for charity - literally. On Friday, its CEO Tan Suee Chieh held a yoga lesson for 60 staff members, who each paid $10 or $20 for the 30-minute session.

Mr Tan, who has been doing yoga for three years, said he had asked his staff to go out of their way for charity, and wanted to lead by example.

'I thought for the staff to see me in various yoga poses - twisting my legs round my head, stand on my head, touching my ear with my toes - would fit the bill and keep them entertained.'

Also doing their bit, one Income senior vice-president went on a 42-hour hunger strike, and the public affairs head will shave off her tresses.

Their efforts are part of a project comprising two dares for its senior management and eight fringe activites over three weeks to raise $300,000 for the NTUC care and share programme, The Moral Home for Disabled and the Singapore Children's Society, among others.

The scale and nature of the fundraisers are a first for Income, which wants to involve as many staff as possible in the cause.

It started on Tuesday with senior vice-president Laurence Wong fasting for 42 hours under the watchful eye of colleagues, who were able to watch him 'live' online through close-circuit cameras and pledge donations.

More than 1,000 staff are directly involved in various fundraisers, which includes: a car wash by three senior vice-presidents, a football playoff against former national team players Quah Kim Song, Dollah Kassim and V. Sundramoorthy, and charity sales by individual departments.

An electronic ticker outside Income's Bras Basah Road building broadcasts the lastest amount raised, which has hit over half of the target.

The string of activities would end on Dec 29 with Ms Caroline Fernandez, its public affairs head, going bald. Part of the proceeds would go towards Action for Aids, where she is a volunteer.

'The whole thing is going to be quite traumatic,' she said. 'But I keep my spirits up by reminding myself it is for a good cause - there are people with real problems and needs. If this dare will bring in the extra dollars, and raise awareness to the chosen charities, then I would have made a contribution.'