LETTER | Like Nurul Izzah, many industry experts willing to offer free service

LETTER | Lately, there had been a lot of public uproar over the appointment of Nurul Izzah as a senior adviser to our prime minister. The criticisms were made without any attempt by the public to understand and know the rationale behind the decision.

Just because the prime minister is her father, the public used the parental connection to cry nepotism.

Nurul Izzah has been a four-term MP and I am sure she has accumulated vast experience on issues that plague the country. Furthermore, she accepted the position without taking any salary or allowances. It was a completely free service of her own accord.

We should congratulate and praise her for offering her services. Her act of providing free services should be emulated and practised in all government departments.

In the industry, there are many experts who are willing to offer their services for free to government departments. One such government-linked department, the Human Resources Development Corporations (HRDC), has formed many industry expert committees (IEC ) to assist them (government departments) to evaluate the quality of training courses provided by registered trainers. Members of the IEC do not receive any salary. They willingly contribute their experiences and expertise to the nation.

Other departments should emulate HRDC to form expert committees in their departments. Industry experts know fully well how excessive regulatory controls can affect the operations of companies.

Periodically, lawmakers amend and upgrade laws to regulate industries. Though some departments had requested participation from industries, very often views and inputs from the industries were not incorporated into the laws.

With due respect, government officers are trained to enforce laws to the letter without understanding the operations of the business.

If industry expert committees are incorporated into the departments, the officers could learn from them the enforcement of the law with business considerations.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.