From online to offline: Zoom fitness group evolves and will run for cancer cause

SINGAPORE – During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in April 2020, fitness enthusiast Anselm Chelliah and his wife Rina Chan wanted to exercise at home and also help their friends stay fit.

The couple started a Zoom fitness class called the Bishan Bears, and Chan invited several friends and their husbands to join them virtually, as physical restrictions were in place during the circuit breaker.

Since then, the group have moved offline to weekly exercise classes at HDB void decks and participated in runs for charity.

Chelliah said: “My wife was bored, and then she was like, ‘hey, why don’t you organise this thing online, find a platform and then get a few of my friends, and then you just talk us through the workouts’.”

The 47-year-old thought that it was a great idea to stay active after undergoing surgery on his Achilles tendon.

“I was already going crazy not being able to work out with my one leg in a cast,” said the Army warrant officer.

“I don’t earn (from it), it’s just my time and sharing fitness is a passion that I had for a very long time. And then from there, the group got bigger, and then it evolved a bit more, where I had a bit more friends helping out with the workouts.

“I bought a Zoom subscription and I pay every month for the package so I can run the whole thing for two, three hours. And then I got friends who joined in to help conduct the workouts on different days.”

His group of 12 eventually grew to nearly 40 at their peak. The classes involved strength building, static training, endurance and cardiovascular fitness.

As restrictions eased, the Bishan Bears eventually headed out to exercise within the housing estate.

He said: “Once the rules and regulations got lighter, then we became more open, and more people started to come. I still continue online, every Thursday and Sunday, because there are still people that can’t join us.”

Coincidentally, Bears member Edward Lim was once secondary schoolmates with Chelliah. They had lost contact for over 15 years, until the latter moved to Bishan.

Lim, a lecturer at a private school, said: “It’s kind of fated that he came to live near my house, and I feel very grateful to him, because I’m not a very gym-going person. I like sport, but I don’t like to do sport alone.

“So he just came at the right time and introduced me and my wife to working out and we do it every week now. It feels weird if I don’t work out on a Thursday now.”

Lim also helps out by carrying the kettlebells for the group workouts from his block to the training location about 200m away.

Aside from exercise, the Bears also celebrate group members’ birthdays, festive occasions and occasionally play mahjong together.

They also started doing charity runs – which are mostly cancer-related – and raised over $10,000 each time.

Rebecca Vu, whose mum died of cancer in 2020, said her brother Melvin “wanted to do a memorial kind of thing and that’s how it started”.

The human resources professional said that she was never a “sporty person in school”, but decided to join the Bears at the encouragement of her sibling.

On March 8 and 9, the 22-strong group will run a combined 100km in the Relay For Life with the Singapore Cancer Society at the National Stadium – they have raised over $13,000 so far.

Rebecca Vu said: “It means a lot to me. Every year I would join Singtel’s Race Against Cancer... So this 100km, when Anselm asked, I was the first one (to sign up).”

And while they are not actively looking to grow their group of fitness fanatics, the Bears welcome anyone who is interested to join them for their weekly sessions.

Said Lim: “Anselm’s just giving it to all of us because it’s his love for fitness, his passion for it. We joined him because it was fun, and he helps and builds bonds between all of us.

“So in the future, if anybody wants to come and join us, feel free.”

The group train on Thursdays at the void deck of Blk 165, Bishan Street 13.

Find out more about

their cause here.