To be or not to be

Universal tongue: He may be the ‘People’s Pope’ but the head of the Catholic church, Pope Francis, has to deliver his speeches in Latin, the official language of the church. – AFP

LATIN words are rarely used in Malaysia, except for some legal terms. Those of us old enough will recall that many of our premier schools had Latin mottos.

These prominent schools didn’t want to be known as just another school but be recognised as institutions. They were indeed institutions and lived up to their names, too.