Real men wear black, or so goes the machismo belief.

But for Wong Chin Huat, donning black landed him behind bars with the possibility of a sedition trial looming over his head.

wong chin huat released from police custody 080509 02 However, three nights in the slammer has failed to unnerve him. The 36-year-old university lecturer has vowed to continue wearing black.

In fact, he plans to give away all his white shirts and buy more black clothes.

Wong was not hauled away by the men in blue for making a fashion statement but rather a political statement.

He ruffled feathers with his call on the public to wear black to mourn the 'death of democracy' in Perak.

"They (the police) managed to stop me from wearing black for two days but I am in my black colour again," he told reporters after his release today.

"This is the 92nd day after the Perak coup that I am in black," he said, adding that he has been wearing black since Feb 6 when Barisan Nasional took over the Perak state government.

Wong claimed that when he was arrested, he purposely chose the orange-coloured lock-up T-shirt instead of the others because orange was the same colour worn by prisoners in Guantanamo Bay.

"Now I am in black again. I will probably give my white shirts to others and buy more black shirts. Right now, I have only two black shirts, one short-sleeved and the other long sleeved," he said.

Thank-you for the arrest

Wong also thanked the authorities for arresting him, since it has made the '1BlackMalaysia' campaign a huge success.

wong chin huat released from police custody 080509 05 "My arrest was to intimidate people not to wear black, it shows that Malaysian politics has come to a ridiculous stage. But they were wrong, more people are wearing black now," he said.

"No country in the world should step into the private sphere and tell (an individual) what colour to wear or not to wear," he said, adding that the government must learn that civil disobedience is part of politics.

Wong also said the chaos in Perak was a good example of how things could go wrong when people decide to break the rules.

"I did not break the rules, I merely excercised my personal liberty to wear black and constitutional right to call on others to wear black.

"I am not the one who broke the rule. It is those (BN politicians) in Perak who broke the rules," he added.

Wong also called on Malaysians to be bold in defending their constitutional rights.

"You must stand up, you must show what you believe in," he stressed.

VIDEO l 6 min