Don't wear black on Mondays...
-
- Expatriate
- Posts: 13458
- Joined: Wed May 28, 2014 11:37 pm
- Reputation: 3974
Don't wear black on Mondays...
Apparently it is now an arrestable offence. In fact, it is probably best to avoid wearing black at all in case you are mistaken for a Khmer Rouge supporter, according to some reports...and dressing in the same colour as everyone else is also forbidden.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the colour of mourning dress in Cambodia was white top and black bottom? And white is the Chinese mourning colour. So in theory ... if they switch from black to white shirts, then the message would be the same, but it would not be illegal because not monochrome. This could get crazy very fast.
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/prim ... ns-112434/Eight human rights officers and activists were detained for the act of wearing black on Monday after they sported the hue at a demonstration to mourn the jailing of five of their colleagues last month. Mr. HE said on Tuesday that the act of protesting in monochrome was a clear security threat...
His words followed warnings from other officials, with Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak saying Cambodia could become like war-torn Syria if such protests continued, and government spokesman Phay Siphan saying the wearing of black shirts “reminds people [of] 1975.”...
Prince Sisowath Thomico, one of the few members of the royal family to regularly criticize the government as a prominent member of the CNRP, said the reaction to Monday’s black-clad protesters was farcical given that the gathering was peaceful.
“Some people have said the Khmer Rouge used to wear black shirts, but in the minds of the human rights activists and human rights organizations in Cambodia, who had the people who dressed in black, it is the color of mourning,” Prince Thomico said.
The prince said that for the CPP to interpret the wearing of black shirts as an act of potential revolution showed the party’s current level of paranoia...
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the colour of mourning dress in Cambodia was white top and black bottom? And white is the Chinese mourning colour. So in theory ... if they switch from black to white shirts, then the message would be the same, but it would not be illegal because not monochrome. This could get crazy very fast.
- John Bingham
- Expatriate
- Posts: 13763
- Joined: Sun Dec 07, 2014 11:26 pm
- Reputation: 8969
Re: Don't wear black on Mondays...
It's ridiculous. For a long time not many wore black for obvious reasons, but there were always exceptions. The Kampuchean Communists (and the National Liberation Front or Viet Cong) wore those clothes because that was the basic peasant pajama outfit at the time. So it wasn't really a uniform. Of course some wore combat jackets, dyed black or not, and webbing etc, but it was an outfit that could easily blend in. My point being that it isn't necessarily bad to wear black here, it has always been done in the boonies. That goes for kramas too.
Another exception is, wait for it, .... high officials and their bodyguards. Bodyguards almost always wear these tropical/ Mao style suits, they come in a range of colors from olive to gray and most often black. I quite like those suits, you can buy a pants/jacket ready to wear for around $60 at Psah Thmei. You'd look silly though, it's far better to get a tailor to make them up.
Young people are wearing black a lot more these days, and why not? The Khmer Rouge stopped wearing black outfits around 1980, and the shade has gradually lost that association.
Another exception is, wait for it, .... high officials and their bodyguards. Bodyguards almost always wear these tropical/ Mao style suits, they come in a range of colors from olive to gray and most often black. I quite like those suits, you can buy a pants/jacket ready to wear for around $60 at Psah Thmei. You'd look silly though, it's far better to get a tailor to make them up.
Young people are wearing black a lot more these days, and why not? The Khmer Rouge stopped wearing black outfits around 1980, and the shade has gradually lost that association.
Silence, exile, and cunning.
- juansweetpotato
- Expatriate
- Posts: 2637
- Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2014 8:45 pm
- Reputation: 75
Re: Don't wear black on Mondays...
Interesting you should mention that AM because I had a conversation with one my clients about just such a thing. He speaks fluent Chinese and Khmer and knows both cultures. He was saying that although black and white are traditional mourning colors that if they had to use one color, that color would be black. He understood that in western culture black is the symbol for death/mourning and also added it was the same in Cambodia.Anchor Moy wrote: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the colour of mourning dress in Cambodia was white top and black bottom? And white is the Chinese mourning colour.
He also mentioned that red is the color used at funerals in China. I have no way of knowing whether what he told me is true or not. Maybe just in specific areas. It' a huge country.
He's a Buddhist from Kampong Cham BTW.
"Can you spare some cutter for an old man?"
- bolueeleh
- Expatriate
- Posts: 4448
- Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:39 am
- Reputation: 842
- Location: anywhere with cheap bonks
Re: Don't wear black on Mondays...
chinese funeral colors
black / white - equal or greater in age or heirachy than deceased
twine / tan - sons and daughters of deceased
dark blue - grandsons / daughters of deceased
dark green - great grandsons daughters
wears small patch on left arm - deceased is male
wears small patch on right arm - deceased is female
black / white - equal or greater in age or heirachy than deceased
twine / tan - sons and daughters of deceased
dark blue - grandsons / daughters of deceased
dark green - great grandsons daughters
wears small patch on left arm - deceased is male
wears small patch on right arm - deceased is female
Money is not the problem, the problem is no money
-
- Expatriate
- Posts: 13458
- Joined: Wed May 28, 2014 11:37 pm
- Reputation: 3974
Re: Don't wear black on Mondays...
Everyone was wearing red at the Chinese New Year party we went to this year. I sort of understood that it was supposed to be lucky. So, yeah, who knows what colours signify to different people.juansweetpotato wrote:Interesting you should mention that AM because I had a conversation with one my clients about just such a thing. He speaks fluent Chinese and Khmer and knows both cultures. He was saying that although black and white are traditional mourning colors that if they had to use one color, that color would be black. He understood that in western culture black is the symbol for death/mourning and also added it was the same in Cambodia.Anchor Moy wrote: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the colour of mourning dress in Cambodia was white top and black bottom? And white is the Chinese mourning colour.
He also mentioned that red is the color used at funerals in China. I have no way of knowing whether what he told me is true or not. Maybe just in specific areas. It' a huge country.
He's a Buddhist from Kampong Cham BTW.
All black is definitely trendy. Black and white can also be cool : Arrest this woman. lol.
- juansweetpotato
- Expatriate
- Posts: 2637
- Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2014 8:45 pm
- Reputation: 75
Re: Don't wear black on Mondays...
Actually. I was just looking at Wiki and it looks like I must have heard him wrong.Anchor Moy wrote:Everyone was wearing red at the Chinese New Year party we went to this year. I sort of understood that it was supposed to be lucky. So, yeah, who knows what colours signify to different people.juansweetpotato wrote:Interesting you should mention that AM because I had a conversation with one my clients about just such a thing. He speaks fluent Chinese and Khmer and knows both cultures. He was saying that although black and white are traditional mourning colors that if they had to use one color, that color would be black. He understood that in western culture black is the symbol for death/mourning and also added it was the same in Cambodia.Anchor Moy wrote: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the colour of mourning dress in Cambodia was white top and black bottom? And white is the Chinese mourning colour.
He also mentioned that red is the color used at funerals in China. I have no way of knowing whether what he told me is true or not. Maybe just in specific areas. It' a huge country.
He's a Buddhist from Kampong Cham BTW.
All black is definitely trendy. Black and white can also be cool : Arrest this woman. lol.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_in_Chinese_culture
Of course he may have been talking about Communist funerals.
Color in Chinese culture
Red
Red, corresponding with fire, symbolizes good fortune and joy. Red is found everywhere during Chinese New Year and other holidays and family gatherings. A red envelope is a monetary gift which is given in Chinese society during holiday or special occasions. The red color of the packet symbolizes good luck. Red is strictly forbidden at funerals as it is a traditionally symbolic color of happiness;[1] however, as the names of the dead were previously written in red, it may be considered offensive to use red ink for Chinese names in contexts other than official seals.
In modern China, red remains a very popular color and is affiliated with and used by the Communist government.
"Can you spare some cutter for an old man?"
- John Bingham
- Expatriate
- Posts: 13763
- Joined: Sun Dec 07, 2014 11:26 pm
- Reputation: 8969
Re: Don't wear black on Mondays...
Anchor Moy wrote: All black is definitely trendy. Black and white can also be cool :
Silence, exile, and cunning.
-
- Expatriate
- Posts: 13458
- Joined: Wed May 28, 2014 11:37 pm
- Reputation: 3974
Re: Don't wear black on Mondays...
Article by Sebastian Strangio on black T-shirts and the fading of Cambodia's mirage of democracy. Worth a read:
Full article: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/a ... mirage-cpp
Analysis: Fading mirage of the CPP
Thu, 12 May 2016
Sebastian Strangio
Cambodia's political crackdown reached a new low on May 9, when eight human rights defenders were detained for the unauthorised wearing of black T-shirts.
Though the group was later released, the arrests on “Black Monday” were a typical example of what Richard Hofstadter might have termed “the paranoid style in Cambodian politics”: the tendency to see any stirring of opposition, however small, as a threat to social cohesion and national survival.
The crackdown that has unfolded over the past year, anchored by an alleged affair between Kem Sokha, deputy president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, and a hairdresser named Khom Chandaraty, is new only in its specifics.
Similar tightenings occurred in 2005-06, and again in 2009-10, both containing the usual mix of ingredients: flimsy lawsuits, blustery threats from Prime Minister HE, a lengthening cast of sued and imprisoned.
Re: Don't wear black on Mondays...
I think it's way to effin hot to wear black during the day. Never buy black cars for same same. Never paint a boat black. Black may be cool but it sure is hot.
- Duncan
- Sir Duncan
- Posts: 8149
- Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2014 8:22 pm
- Reputation: 2357
- Location: Wonder Why Central
Re: Don't wear black on Mondays...
I was in Acleda bank yesterday and noticed all the girls wear black uniforms, so I asked the girl serving me ??????? Well you know the conversation and the answer, Duh.
Cambodia,,,, Don't fall in love with her.
Like the spoilt child she is, she will not be happy till she destroys herself from within and breaks your heart.
Like the spoilt child she is, she will not be happy till she destroys herself from within and breaks your heart.
-
- Similar Topics
- Replies
- Views
- Last post
-
- 0 Replies
- 308 Views
-
Last post by SanAung
-
- 83 Replies
- 12252 Views
-
Last post by SternAAlbifrons
-
- 13 Replies
- 3713 Views
-
Last post by Doc67
-
- 4 Replies
- 2206 Views
-
Last post by hunter8
-
- 9 Replies
- 2345 Views
-
Last post by Railroad
-
- 3 Replies
- 2141 Views
-
Last post by CEOCambodiaNews
-
- 1 Replies
- 680 Views
-
Last post by canucklhead
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot], Amazon [Bot], Majestic-12 [Bot], mayalison, Semrush [Bot], Soriya and 539 guests