SINGAPORE - Instead of partying on New Year's Eve, 18 Singaporeans will be ushering in 2021 by cycling around the island for a good cause.

For every one of the 120km each cyclist covers, 1kg of rice will be donated to the elderly and those in need.

The event will begin at 2.30pm on Thursday (Dec 31) and end around midnight.

The initiative is the brainchild of Primary 5 student Ashley Rao. The 11-year-old came up with the idea in early December to combine her parents' passions.

Her father, Mr Danny Ngeow, is retired from the investment industry and is an avid cyclist at 54; while Ashley's mother, Ms Fion Phua, 50, is the founder of volunteer platform Keeping Hope Alive, which regularly checks in and helps the elderly and those in need across Singapore on Sundays.

"I hope we can raise a lot of rice and give it to a lot of people who need it," said Ashley.

Tiong Bahru Yong Tao Hu and SongHe have already pledged two tonnes of rice to be distributed to about 800 households.

Ms Phua and her volunteers will distribute the rice during their regular volunteering sessions, starting from Jan 5.

Mr Ngeow, his cyclist friends, and volunteers with Keeping Hope Alive will cycle around Singapore. Mr Ng Keng Guan, 18, is the youngest cyclist and 71-year-old Ngiam Kim Sng the oldest.

Mr Ngiam and Mr Ng are no strangers to long-distance cycling, though neither of them has cycled 120km before.

For the past few months and along with several other Keeping Hope Alive volunteers, they have been cycling regularly on Friday nights from Clementi to East Coast Park and back, covering about 60km.

"I thought it was a very good idea to take part in this initiative, it's very worthwhile," said Mr Ng.

"I also wanted to make my time more productive. Some people say youth don't spend their time wisely by staying at home and gaming - so this is a more effective way of spending my time doing something good for society," he added.

The cyclists will keep a metre apart from each other and wear helmets, said Mr Ngiam.

Despite his age, Mr Ngiam is active. He runs, plays badminton and swims regularly.

"I like to exercise, I'm a very active person," he said.

He is confident that he will be able to complete the 120km route, which begins at Fort Road and ends at the Marina Barrage.

"I know my own ability. I am worried about some of the other riders who are newer, but we will advise them and take care of them throughout the route," said Mr Ngiam.

Ms Phua is proud of her daughter for coming up with the initiative.

"She is quite observant to merge my husband's and my interests. She is always thinking of others. For example, she also suggested using her birthday money to buy items for those in need," she said.

"I really feel like she's grown up. When I was 11, I don't think I would have done all this," she added.

Ms Phua and Ashley will be following the cycling route in a car to bring along back-up bicycles - in case of flat tires or other incidents - as well as water and ponchos.

Ashley will also help out with the rice distribution in January.

Ms Phua added that Keeping Hope Alive will be using a new app to better serve residents come January. The app, developed by social enterprise Family Spotlight, will help volunteers keep better track of those in need by allowing them to enter key information into a database.

"This will also help others who want to contribute. For example, if you want to send liquid food to those who need to be tube-fed, then you can use the app to find out how many residents at this estate need to be tube-fed, and know how many items to prepare," said Ms Phua.

"Now, as more things go digital, this is something we need to do," she added.