WE refer to your article, 'I sat there like a dummy' (The New Paper, 10 Jan), about director Eric Khoo and his maiden foray into directing in Tamil.

Congratulations are in order. It is certainly admirable that Eric has taken on such a challenge.

However we would like to direct your attention to some of his comments, which we feel were inappropriate, in view of the following facts:

1. The article reported that Tamil is a language alien to him.

2. Eric himself is quoted as saying: "Obviously I can't follow the singsong rhythms of Tamil and I don't know what's happening, so I'm sitting there like gong gong (slang for dumb)."

3. Eric says Grace Kalaiselvi, his resident translator, is "really fluent and she translated all our English dialogue to proper Tamil - not our rojak colloquial Tamil, but the Tamil that would work with foreign Indians".

We would like Eric to clarify a few points.

1. Is he an authority on Tamil?

2. If he is not, can he reveal the source of his information?

3. What's his definition of "proper Tamil"?

4. Does he have the facts to back the claim that Singaporean Tamils do not speak "proper Tamil"?

5. What is his definition of "the Tamil that would work with foreign Indians" and is he an authority on this issue?

Living in a multi-racial, multi-lingual society, it is important to be sensitive towards the feelings of all races. We feel that Eric's comments were the exact opposite.

In any case, we would like to wish Eric every success for this project and his future endeavours, whatever language they may be in.

Selvarani Arunasalam
Mumtaz Maricar
Rajendran Arunasalam Pillai
Khur Sheed Ahmad Shah
Saunthara Subramaniam s/o Velu
Silvester Phua Cheng Yam