With all the buzz about Yellow in the blogosphere and ordinary people getting searched and questioned by the police for wearing yellow, I ask the question: What is the meaning & significance of Yellow in different cultures?

At this point in time and in the context of Malaysia, Yellow is the colour of our Royalty. Thus the point of wearing Yellow on the 10th November’s rally symbolic of our appeal to the King (Agung).

There are of course other meanings associated with Yellow.

Interestingly, in Malaysia - the term budaya kuning (lit. “yellow culture”) is used to refer to lewd or uncouth behaviour, with the implication that such culture is an import from Western societies. Yellow is also commonly associated with jealousy and deceit.

I just hope no one from our government controlled media picked these few ideas up and indulge in Yellow Journalism (sensationalist journalism that distorts, exaggerates, or exploits news to maximize profit.) although they could easily accuse us (bloggers) of the same.

This is what I picked up from Factmonster:

In Egypt and Burma, yellow signifies mourning. (I suppose we are too for our sick nation)

In Spain, executioners once wore yellow. (We wish we were in Spain, yah?)

In tenth-century France, the doors of traitors and criminals were painted yellow. (I wonder whether there will be some folks buying up yellow paint and spraying on some prominent people’s cars?)

If someone is said to have a “yellow streak,” that person is considered a coward. However, in Japan during the War of Dynasty, each warrior wore a yellow chrysanthemum as a pledge of courage. (I suppose since we are Asian, the Japanese version is more applicable to us)

In the Middle Ages, actors portraying the dead in a play wore yellow. (Plenty of dead people walking on Saturday. Dead to fear.)

To holistic healers, yellow is the color of peace. (Here’s one that save us!)

Yellow has good visibility and is often used as a color of warning.

Since we are asked to show our continued support and solidarity for our Clean and Fair Elections campaign by wearing something yellow every Saturday, I guess the last bit about it being a warning is really appropriate. At least to the ruling coalition.
If you see that there are plenty of Yellow every saturday, it is a warning sign that the people are very aware of what is actually happening in this country. And the sea of yellow will speak volumes to our authoritarian government.

Tie a yellow ribbon round your car’s antenna or something if you dont really like to wear a Yellow shirt (I don’t too).

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