Dear Editor, It was interesting that Ministry of Cultural Development (MOCD) confirmed on CITV that Tupapa won first place for the drum dance costume as per the rules.

Wait, on Facebook it looks like the Tupapa girls was using the CINAT costume. Ummm isn’t that costume was owned by government paid for by taxpayers? Internal sources say it’s still government costume through MOCD. So how can then Tupapa win a costume they did not own in the first place but borrowed? If borrowed what would that be? Does the ownership change – not if there was no legal exchange, so if that is the case, was the monetary benefit of $3000 prizemoney legitimately won? 

Did someone make a mistake or was the judges influenced or was the scores tampered with? Sources also said that the Tupapa drum dance did not even make in the top three of the A Category.

Mr Judge

(Name and address supplied)

Editor’s note – Secretary of the Ministry of Cultural Development, Emile Kairua, explained that the intellectual property on that costume belonged to designer Mareta Angene Taana, “so that’s the reason why we were okay to give it to her”. Mareta was also the costume designer for Tupapa at the 2024 Te Maeva Nui festival.