I refer to Liew Meow Koon’s letter “Senior workers can band together to offer expertise to SMEs” (Jan 6).

About two years ago, when a group of us saw and read about small and micro businesses rolling down their shutters permanently in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, we were both saddened and inspired to extend a helping hand to these small and micro businesses which had fallen through the cracks.

We decided to create a local version of Score, or Service Corps of Retired Executives, which is an American volunteer network of mentors who help small businesses achieve their goals.

So we banded together, wanting to start voluntary consulting work for those companies that did not have the resources to hire professionals in the fields of auditing, human resources, accounting, banking, and business development, to name a few. Our intention was exactly what Mr Liew had suggested.

We sought the advice of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) together with our pitch deck and resumes. We were informed that we needed to be certified consultants.

We subsequently contacted the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC) and were told that as a concession to us who are veterans in our fields, we needed to take only a two-day course with the institute, costing a few thousand dollars for each person.

On top of this, we would also need to chalk up 1,000 hours of consulting work before we could be recognised and certified by IMC.

However, a fresh graduate who wishes to be a management consultant would only need to take a four-day course and register 1,000 hours of consulting work to be certified, despite lacking real business experience.

In other words, we were being put, more or less, on a similar footing as fresh graduates, despite our years of practical industry experience and being forged in fire from handling past economic crises during our active work lives.

There were a few dialogues between us and ASME, including a Zoom meeting, but sadly, ASME eventually turned us down unless we were able to meet all their criteria, including incorporating a company first.

The many insurmountable hurdles to cross have dampened our concerted spirit.

In the light of the ageing population, isn’t it time the Government looked into having a shared service organisation to help small and micro companies, as well as seniors who are still able to contribute to society in a meaningful way?

Jeanette Koh Siew Fah

• Note: This letter carries six other signatures of members of the group.