This is an old post. As the new year is here, we can revive the SHC best hug again. Let’s give one another the hug after our new year greeting.
In recent days, some members including myself have been doing some bear hugging; and we thought it would be a good idea to develop the SHC Bear Hug. Whenever we meet, we can do the Bear Hug. Here’s how it works.
- Both hands forward, right hand slightly higher than left hand.
- Smile and walk towards the other person, and give a good hug for 3-5 secs.
- Works for both men and women.
- No kissing.
You can still operate with the typical hand-shake.
Terence Seah
Hi Terence,
Then the men ‘untong’ lah!!
Hi Lina,
It all started yesterday at Hooters. Dan giving
bear hug but no kisses. So all the men (Terence, YK, Dan, Boon Liang) yesterday ‘tang tio’. He..he..he
Terence, this is not new. Have done that but must say only with people we feel very comfortable with.
Lina, don’t think along that line that the men will “untong”. When we hug someone in SHC, it has to be the friendship that we feel for the person and gender should not on the mind. If gender does come to mind then don’t hug that person loh!
If someone wants to hug you but you don’t think you would feel comfortable, just put out your hand to offer a handshake instead. The other person should not feel offended.
I fully agreed that we must be prudent when hugging the ladies unless we are on familiar ground.
Even when we hug a new guy who’s just joined SHC, we need to approach with caution.
So for the time being we just have to give a bear hug to those familiar faces.
We hug for various reasons, some for a long lost friend, some like those in the church because it is a commandment, others for that simple hug of love and affections. We just have to draw the line.
i prefer the indian style – two clasp hands. Can use this method even during Sars time!
Dear Terence and Bear Huggers
Curious me googled and found that bear hug means “a hostile takeover attempt predicated on making an offer at a premium large enough
Dear Terence and Bear Huggers
Curious me googled and found that bear hug means “a hostile takeover attempt predicated on making an offer at a premium large enough to ensure…”. Hmmm, interesting…
How about a hairy Ah Meng hug?
Please ignore that earlier unfinished comment that went in before I could finish typing.
Joy
Terence, you want to hug a bear so soon after ah meng has passed away? Hv forgotten yr many vows to her?
Tsk tsk tsk, you really not the “hai koo sek lan yong bu bien” type……………
Hi Tim,
Still hv this song ‘hai koo sek lan yong bu bien’ meh……. hahaha…. even ‘bu bien’ but still hv some changes…….
Happy ‘Yuen Xiao Jie’ to all SHCians
Jane
No hugging for me pls.Just for info,guys & girls cannot hug in Malay community..its considered ‘not proper’..shake hands is ok.
But the girls can hug each other,even for myself..only the ones I love & comfortable with.
Better not anyhow hug ppl…sori if u think Im very old fashion!especially with guys??No!No!
sori :)
Handshaking is still the best. May be a standing Korean bow before the handshaking would be great.
The sequence could be: waving of the hand (for acknowledgement) as one is walking towards the other party. When close enough (half metre away?), perform a small standing Korean bow (just a nod of the head), then the handshake. This form of greeting is very gracious.
Just my two cents’ worth.
JassmineT
Re: hugs.
Why the big deal about hugging? It depends on how you hug a person. The French do it best. A light hug with one or two ‘mwaahs’ on the cheeks. I do it with my friends, albeit close friends and relatives.
I think it’s up to the individual whether he/she wants to hug or not. I agree with Cheng and Dan. Do it if you feel comfortable enough with the other person.
Don’t look upon it as an opportunity to be lecherous or that men do it to ‘untong’, although there may be a few with that warped idea.
I’m very sure Terence, Dan and Yew Kwong do not belong to this category.
Cheers friends and be happy!
Hi,
I am quite conservative. I am very comfortable with handshakes.
Cecilia
Hi All,
I do the bear hug wif my eurasian, malay and filipino male friends and also wif our right palms gripped together. As 4 my lady friends, the eurasians and filipinos, we will bear hug and ‘mwaahs’ on the cheeks.
This is the act of true friendship.
Cheers, Dennis not the cheeky menace
Hi All,
Each culture and language has a different form of body language. While hand-shaking is common courtesy in England and America, Korean and Japanese keep a distance and bow, while Ukrainians are affectionate and hug or kiss. Maltese like to kiss each other on both cheeks when you know the person well, and shake hands if it is not very informal.
When Navajos shake hands, they don’t grab each other’s hands in a tight handshake, they simply do a ‘limp handshake,’ and what counts is simply a light squeeze.
A simple “Hello”, “Hi”, wave, handshake and kiss can be understanded by most people.
Cheers
Dan Huang @#4
Since when it’s a commandment to hug in Church? What Bible are you using hah?
Why all these talks on how to greet one another? There may be traditions but certainly no fixed rules about it depending on factors such as culture, religion, proximity (in relationship as well as geographical). It is also very individual, how comfortable one feels as what Cheng @#3 said. The one thing that matter most, is that it should come from the heart.
Lily,
I am just refering to the verse, ‘This is my commandment that you love one another as i have loved you’ Sorry, that was quite out of context!
Huging happened mainly after the communion in certain traditional churches.
as many have commented, greetings come in many forms from diverse culture. as charles #5 mentioned about the ‘clasp hands’, this form of greetings is perhaps a very humble gesture. the thais do it ever so often as a form of greeting and respect. the indian’s version would mean; ‘the divinity in me respect the divinity in you’ as they believe all of us have goodness in our hearts. it is traditionally called ‘namaste’ or ‘namaskar’. thought I add my 7cents worth! haha![price went up lah]
jeremy
There are a few different ways to hug one another, and most of the time it is unique to the pair. For friends, they’ll develop methods to hug one another (and sometimes “hug” is a very tricky application, e.g. the grabbing of hands and bumping shoulders kind of thing), for partners and/or family it will be different.
A platonic hug is fairly brief and doesn’t involve a great deal of body contact. It’s the kind of thing you do on meeting and greeting someone, or as part of a farewell. … A romantic hug is usually more prolonged, involves full body contact, and faces are often pressed together.
These would be circumstantial to the friend (as I previously stated). You’ll have a certain way you approach people. One of my usual ways is the “one arm over the shoulder, the other under the arm” approach which is sort of a mixed signal of “I’m there for you and I care about you” kind of approach combining the loving hugs of “defense” and “dependency”. But seeing as it’s a mix of both, it can pass off as friendship because it is both at the same time instead of just the one person taking the one role.
Other methods are the “grab right hand, pull in to hug, and pat on back” approach normally associated with close friends who are on equal terms. This can pass off the message of an almost brother-like relationship that many good friends share.
Otherwise, most commonly you’ll find people simply patting one another on the shoulder or back whilst standing shoulder to shoulder.