Would you offer strangers a hug to brighten their lives? The idea, which started in Sydney, Australia three years ago, is catching on in Hong Kong, mainly among young people. An idealistic few, keen to bring human contact back to isolated urban lives, have been staging Free Hugs events across the city over the past few months.
The next takes place on Sunday, when interior designer Brandy Yuen Ching-fung and other volunteers will gather in Mong Kok and Causeway Bay to reach out to strangers.
Like many converts to the cause, Yuen, 31, was inspired by a crusader using the pseudonym Juan Mann (one man). A video of Mann dispensing hugs in the Sydney CBD posted on YouTube just over a year ago sparked an international drive (freehugscampaign.org) and similar action in cities such as Chicago, Geneva, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo.
'There's no dialogue, only music in the video, but it's touching. I had to give it a try,' says Yuen, a member of indie band Libido. 'It's the most audacious thing I've done.'
Natasha Unaphum, who offered free hugs as part of an English secondary school project, says: 'It struck a chord with me because I saw that there's not a lot of interaction between people.' Unaphum, now studying at a US college, adds: 'They're listening to their iPods, talking on the phone, or just speed walking. I was inspired by Mann's philosophy.'
Chinese people tend to be more reserved and less physically demonstrative than westerners,