As if to add insult to injury, two judges and a presenter were invited from India for the finals. They blemished the show by spewing in English when giving their comments and presenting. Our local judges and presenter seemed to be infected by their Indian counterparts and spoke more English than before. The local presenter welcomed the guest-of-honour, Mr S. Iswaran, the MP for West Coast, in English only. Just that afternoon, Mr Iswaran had spoken to OLi 96.8 about the forthcoming Tamil Language Month, in which he is involved. He urged the Tamil youths to speak more in Tamil. He also reminded us that outside India, only one or two countries have given Tamil an official language status, and we have to cherish and nurture it. He also said our government also supports Tamil language activities.

Vasantham Central should have chosen judges and presenters who are well versed in Tamil. Two local judges frequently said during the qualifying rounds that some contestants gave a 'hundred per cent' or 'perfect' performance. I have never heard any art form being rated perfect or hundred per cent. Good Tamil presentation seemed to have died a literal death with the late Mr Uthuman Ghani, who never adulterated his Tamil presentations. The money spent on the Indian judges and presenter could have been channelled to increase the prize money of the contestants.

Jamal Mohinitheen