If there had been an unmistakable element that detracted all of us, locals and tourists alike, from the experience of watching the incredible display of human faith, it was none other than the hooligans' overwhelming rowdy and loud behaviour. They were a blot on an otherwise perfect landscape of Thaipusam, and an eyesore to all practising Hindus.

It was deeply regrettable that a religious festival such as Thaipusam should have a preponderance of police presence. However, given the Tamil youths' unholy prancing and impious romping on the streets with gay abandon, and sporadic fighting and riotous behaviour, the police's rigidity as to the enforcement of rules was more than just welcome, if not even highly imperative.

All the same, the hooligans' offensive dancing, vulgar songs and proverbial monkeyshines spoilt an otherwise holy day.

As a practising Hindu, I would like to see a Thaipusam without our men in blue, one that which can be conducted wholly on its own merits. But that is the will-o-the-wisp that all Singapore Hindus have been chasing for decades.

Unless the Hindu Endowment Board rolls its sleeves up to educate the miscreants and clean up the image of Thaipusam, we should not even dream of seeing any less of the police on the day. In fact, we need more of them.

Muthupalani Ayyakannu