Once upon a time, my supervisor was a Malay lady who wore a tudung. She came to observe my lesson. It was a Sec 1 class.
Just as the lesson was about to start, a Sec 1 boy came to her and said, “Auntie, have you seen my badminton racket?”
I was mortified. This was my boss but the boy had acted on his stereotype. He thought Malay = school attendant.
I explain to the boy that this lady was not a school attendant but the Head of Department for Humanities.
My supervisor must have been offended because she introduced herself to the class by telling them her name and then said, “I am the Head of Humanities. I am not a cleaner.”
We should teach children to respect different vocations. A teacher and a cleaner are all respectable jobs.
We should also teach children not to stereotype people based on surface appearances.