In protest at the detention of two colleagues, all Perak Pakatan Rakyat assemblypersons were clad in black during the state assembly opening this morning.  

The two elected representatives are Simpang Pulai assemblyperson Tan Kar Hing and Teja assemblyperson Chang Lih Kang, who were arrested last Thursday and had been remanded until yesterday.

“For assemblypersons, usually we wear the First Uniform, which is in white, to attend the opening ceremony.

“But we want to express our frustration (over the detention), hence we are wearing black,” Pasir Pinji assemblyperson Howard Lee Chuan How told Malaysiakini .

According to Lee, 26 out of the 28 Perak Pakatan Rakyat assemblypersons from PKR, PAS and DAP, have turned up to be in solidarity with Tan and Chang.

However, Lee said the duo could not make it as they are still settling the bail, which had been set at RM2,000 each.

“This is a rare situation in the state assembly. You seldom see any absence during the opening ceremony,” he said.

The police had “excessively” abused their power for hunting down dissidents, he lamented.

Apart from showing support to Tan and Chang, they are also protesting against the coming goods and services tax (GST), and showing solidarity with jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, as well as 13 people sentenced to jail on charges of participating in an illegal demonstration against the Perak coup in 2009,  who were dubbed as 13OKZ (Those who are Aggrieved).