I refer to Ong Kian Ming's supposedly impassioned defence of Khairy Jamaluddin. While his letter is an admirable exercise in seeing it from the other point of view, I feel that he gives Khairy and his team too much credit.

Somehow Ong seems to think that Khairy and his people were instrumental in the success of the Barisan Nasional in the recent general election. He certainly didn't seem to say that when commenting on the results on television.

Ong seems to have conveniently forgotten the other factors in play including the stepping down of Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the work of the other parties in the BN coalition, and the general weakness of the opposition parties.

Ong further goes on to say that if Khairy and his team were not with Pak Lah, this is a danger that Pak Lah won't be able to deliver on his promise.

Well, let's see the facts - when Khairy was there, Pak Lah failed to deliver on a clean and efficient cabinet with many Mahathir-era ministers still there (even when they had doubtful performance records) and only one menteri besar was changed.

When Khairy is not there (you can ask the prime minister's office if he's still there), Pak Lah still fails to deliver on his election promises.

Methinks that this Khairy is not as influential as he's made out to be. Anyway, how many secretaries (private and political) does Pak Lah have? Are you telling me that these other people do not have the skills, experience and knowledge to handle matters in the prime minister's office?

With regards to Khairy's perspective, his so-called strengths still do make him qualified to be considered for the post of chief operating officer of Khazanah (or for any senior position in a government-linked company [GLC] for that matter).

Khairy's critics do not ignore his experience. It is exactly because of his experience and knowledge that his critics find him unacceptable for the senior position in Khazanah.

Based on his experience and interests, I would gather that Khairy would make a fine journalist (TV or print) or think-tank researcher. I am sure he can drop by the offices of The Star or TV3 to fill in an application form and attend an interview (like the rest of us).

If he's good, then let him prove it first. After all, the rest of us have to jump through the same hoops to prove our worth - why not Khairy?