I refer to the letter by Shakira Ahmad entitled Khairy too young for Khazanah . While the letter raised many salient points in regards to Khairy Jamaluddin's qualifications to be the chief operating officer of Khazanah, it fails to address many of the points brought up in Kalimullah Hassan's piece , to which Shakira was responding to.

Firstly, Kalimullah's piece was much more than just the report that Khairy would be appointed COO of Khazanah. It was about the constraints and restrictions that Khairy faces on a daily basis because of the fact that he's the son-in-law of the prime minister of Malaysia.

To be fair to Khairy, one must assess all the facts and realities at hand before coming to a conclusion, be it negative or positive.

Kalimullah's column pointed out some of these constraints the prevalence of jealousy, the

comparison between Khairy and Azalina Othman, the difficulty that Khairy faces if he wants to work with any financial institution with significant dealings in Malaysia or if he wanted to start his own business here.

Plus the immense scrutiny his private lifestyle faces even though he's not an elected official. These are just to name a few.

He also pointed out many of Khairy's strengths a graduate from a top UK university, the articulate host of Dateline Malaysia, his overseas exposure as an economist and journalist, his success as part of a team that helped resolved the Suqiu issue , his record and experience as a special assistant to the prime minister. Many of these have been ignored by Khairy's critics.

In fact, because of Khairy's position as one of the special assistants to the prime minister, many of his achievements cannot be publicised since that it would amount to a breach of confidentiality besides taking away credit from the PM.

His exposure as a special assistant to the PM would probably be worth twice the experience of a so-called 'normal' job. But he cannot defend himself publicly against all these accusations that have been leveled at him without seriously risking a breach of confidentiality.

For example, it cannot be doubted that Khairy and his small team of young professionals were instrumental in helping to shape the agenda for Pak Lah's first 100 days in power as prime minister.

It also cannot be doubted that Khairy and his team played a key role in the timing of the elections and the branding of Pak Lah and his message during the elections, leading eventually to a historic 90 percent control of the Malaysian parliament.

Many other young Malaysians with the 'right connections' have climbed to positions of prominence in the political and business community without having to face the kind of immense public scrutiny that Khairy is facing now.

How would we like it if people whom we don't know question the games that we play or the vehicles that we buy or the jobs that we take up? Perhaps we should follow the advice given in the classic To Kill a Mockingbird and 'walk around' in Khairy's shoes to try to understand his position and constraints a little bit more.

One worry that I do have, however - which many, in their haste to condemn and criticise Khairy, have failed to point out - is the danger that Pak Lah might not be as focused in the delivery of his election promises without Khairy and his young team at his service.

That bigger picture is perhaps what is more important in this whole Khairy debate.