Stop Calling Our Cultural Attire "Costumes"
Our past colonizers left us a wonderful gift in the form of the English language, but neglected to also include an understanding of the nuances that permeate their language. After reading this headline, " Traditional costumes can be office outfits ", about the laudable move to allow civil servants in Sabah to dress in cultural wear on Thursdays, I cringed at our continual use of "costume" to describe the clothing from our culture. I'm sure you're thinking... What's your problem? You're too sensitive! We've been saying that since the good ol' days. Actually, the words we use really matters quite a bit. I.e., describing the same student as "problematic" or "challenging" matters, because it reveals our underlying beliefs & attitudes towards the subject. We learned English from the white man & little did we know that we've mimicked their underlying beliefs & attitudes as well. Therefore, ladies & g...
