For Mr Mohammad Yusoff Juma'at, the spirit of giving during the holy month of Ramadan extends beyond the Malay/Muslim community.
Since April 30, the 30-year-old civil servant, his wife and two close friends - service engineer Megat Hikal Salim, 31, and accountant Nurul Jannah Kamaruddin, 26 - have been delivering free halal dinners to people living in rental flats, including non-Muslims, twice every week.
So far, they have distributed 2,985 packets of food in Ang Mo Kio, Beach Road, Bendemeer Road, Chai Chee, Geylang Bahru, Jalan Tenteram and North Bridge Road. They plan to give out 2,000 more.
Each packet of food costs around $3.50 and contains either chicken rice or vegetarian fried rice, purchased from Golden Mile Food Centre in Beach Road.
Mr Mohammad Ridzwan, 30, stallholder of Faheem Plaza that sells vegetarian fried rice at the food centre, helps out by lending his van to Mr Yusoff and his team so they can deliver the meals.
"I want the people whom we help to know that they are not alone, that there are so many others out there who care for them. And it shows through the enormous amount of help we received," Mr Yusoff told The Straits Times last Thursday.
Their initiative, called Ramadhan Blessings, began with $1,300 that the team pooled together.
Mr Yusoff's wife, Ms Nur Shahana Tahar, 30, a talent coordinator, also researched the locations of the rental flats they targeted.
After each week's deliveries, the team would post updates on the latest distribution numbers as well as photographs of the deliveries on Facebook and Instagram.
And when they appealed for donations so they could give out more food, members of the public opened their hearts and wallets.
By May 12, Mr Yusoff's team had raised close to $17,500 - enough to fund their food distribution efforts until May 23, the eve of Hari Raya Puasa.
Subsequent donations received will be channelled to Casa Raudha, a shelter for women and children who are victims of domestic abuse, said Mr Yusoff.
"I wish for the residents to stay healthy and to stay safe, especially in these trying times," he added.
