Curb this trend.

Byline: Ravinder Singh

THE recent incidents of school principals using offensive terms or slurs on some of their charges may not be the only cases. There could be others that have not come to light yet.

And what about teachers using such language in their classrooms, or in the playing fields, etc? In the 1980s, a principal of a secondary school in Sungai Petani, Kedah, had used the word "pendatang" in his speech during the assembly. When some concerned teachers went to see him after the assembly, he denied using the word, claiming that the word he had used was "pedagang" , i.e. merchant.

But usage of the word "pendatang" is not new. In 1970, for instance, a …