Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Hugs For Free

What?...Hugs for free?!....What are they up to?
I was at Sentral when I saw 4 Malay kids with posters "HUGS FOR FREE" attached on their shirts. They were from age about 13 to 5. 2 boys and 2 girls.
I saw them hug a few people.
They approached my wife and I when they saw me look at their direction. They smiled and politely asked,"Do want a free hug?"
When we asked them why are they giving away free hugs, they just shrugged and said that they just want to give people friendly hugs.
They did not care what race we were or our status in the society. When they hugged us, we felt a genuine connection from one human being to another, although I don't consider myself as a person who hugs!
What a good idea to bring a nation together regardless of race, religion or colour.
I am sure it took a lot of courage on the part of the kids to offer hugs to a strangers but they did leave a meaningful impact on me that there is still hope for us as a nation to come together.
Action goes a long way then just saying "1 Malaysia".
Their parents, who were surely keeping a close watch on them as they went around, must be extremely proud of them.

Posted by: Yogeswaran Gopala Krishnan