Black sedition vs white terror

ARCHIVES 2009

By admin-s On May 13, 2009

IF I had to find a personal reason to explain the 1BLACKMalaysia campaign, I would attribute it to the determination of Perakians to denounce things they don't like.

By Wong Chin Huat (The Nut Graph)

And I would give the royal example of the late Sultan Idris Shah II of Perak. He vowed not to shave his moustache and beard if the Barisan Nasional (BN) did not remove Tan Sri Mohamed Ghazali Jawi as menteri besar in the late 1970s. Of course, the monarch won.

But 1BLACKMalaysia is not about royal assertiveness. It's about civil disobedience.

Peaceful, simple, minimalist

I have been wearing black since 6 Feb 2009, when Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir was unconstitutionally installed in and by the palace. Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders and supporters have been wearing black, but most do it on an on-and-off basis.

The idea of getting everyone to wear black on 7 May, subverting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's "1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now" into "1BLACKMalaysia, Democracy First, Elections Now", emerged only on 1 May. At that time, possible chaos during the 7 May session of the Perak legislative assembly had loomed large in many people's minds.

So, how did a simple campaign of civil disobedience that only required its supporters to wear black drown out Najib's million-ringgit soundbites?

The answer perhaps lies in the campaign's three features: non-violence, simplicity and minimalism.