NDP 2020 committee slammed for Tamil spelling errors during live parade

Following several Tamil spelling errors committed on live television during NDP 2020, local talent Karthikeyan Somasundaram took to Facebook on Tuesday (11 Aug) to slam the NDP 2020 committee for their lack of concern regarding it.

During the NDP 2020 evening parade, there was a line of animated Tamil song lyrics that were displayed on the LED screens as part of a performance that had characters that appeared misaligned. The strokes and characters of the Tamil words “My Singapore” had been botched, making the words unintelligible.

The Tamil words for “friends” and “siblings” were also misspelt in later songs.

These linguistic errors had already elicited an apology from the contrite chairman of the NDP2020 Executive Committee, Brigadier-General Frederick Choo, who said on Wednesday (12 Aug): “The NDP2020 Exco apologises for the error. The Exco had engaged Tamil translators to ensure the accuracy of the Tamil song lyrics and the Tamil translations of the films and performances in other languages.”

“All lyrics for projection were accurate prior to digital animation. We will further strengthen the production process and be mindful for future NDPs.”

However, local actor Karthikeyan shared his views over the lack of concern over these spelling errors, stating how “despite so many cries of disappointment over the years officials are still ignorant when it comes to Tamil.”

He went on to laud the NDP performance and the effort that went into it in spite of the perilous times but still felt more could have been done for the Tamil community.

“I understand mistakes do happen. But when you make a blatant mistake like this, the question that gnaws my brain is… Didn’t you have one person to point out the mistake? ONE?!”

Netizens were very supportive of his views, with many stating how they felt the government had been immensely ignorant in their translations.

One Netizen even brought up the fact that a committee had been formed by Chee Hong Tat to prevent the occurrence of such mistakes.