Then and now

I can still remember in the 60s, my classmate said he was not allowed to wear black, it being a colour for mourning to the Chinese.

Now it is considered 'in' or 'cool' to some, and Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing wears black most times like a trademark. Lawyers attending court hearing are required to wear black with white shirt or blouse.

Just before May 7, Chin Huat's call (for civil disobedience?) to wear black to mark the death of democracy in Perak caused his arrest which the IGP reiterated (which meant he still thinks he was right then) with, "I will not allow Malaysia to become another Thailand. No organisation or body or individual will be allowed to threaten national security and public order." Marina Mahathir, in her usual objective view, did not think so, so do many others. It was over-reaction to me, no matter how one looks at it. There is still the question of who gave the order for dragging Sivakumar out of the State Assembly. Home Minister thought the police did a good job!

I can still remember soon after May 13, 1969 Tun Dr. Ismail announced on television and over the radio, on the situation when a blanket curfew was proclaimed and slowly withdrawn in stages. He seemed so authoritative and credible.

Now, public statements by PM, DPM, Ministers, IGP and so on, have to be re-confirmed, what with the famous 'flip-flop' statements made famous by Pak Lah, and the now MB Nizar, now MB Zambry within 24 hours, nobody seems to know what to believe anymore.

Back to my original purpose of this post. This morning I noticed some red paint splashed on the glass doors of a new bridal shop with newspapers on the floor, presumably to cover red paint splashed all over. Just weeks ago, there was a grand opening. I believe it was the work of a competitor rather than that of loan sharks. Then I noticed the ladies inside wearing black, like uniforms. What an irony? It used to be taboo to wear black for good occasions like weddings and birthdays but now even staff of bridal shops wear black. Then the red colour has always been used for good occasions, yet the splash of red paint spells trouble for the victim.