Readers of a local English language weekly are invited to participate in a monthly competition, with the prize being a mobile phone awarded by one of the local mobile service providers.

All one has to do is to submit comments “in not more that 100 words” about various aspects of life in Gozo. This seemed to be the only condition stipulated.

I myself have read many of these winning entries but what surprised me was not the comments themselves but the fact that hardly ever, if at all, was there one single entry with just 100 words.

And I don’t mean an extra couple of words, more like 200 words.

This month’s winning entry had 166 words, excluding around 50 two-lettered words, totalling more than 200 words.

So much for the “in not more that 100 words”.

In my opinion, this does not do credit to the organisers or the contestants themselves; nor is it fair to those who observe the rules. It also makes me wonder if we can ever do anything right.

A. Brincat

BIRKIRKARA