That is the latest decision made by Law-makers of Terengganu state in Malaysia! They prefer the German -made Mercedez Benz for their use. The local car, Proton Perdana V6, is not upto their expectations.
Don’t be surprised! The state government is not an opposition-controlled. The state is part of the ruling Barisonal National government. But the state executive councillors or the senior state government officials are not to be blamed for this episode.
All the while there have been many complaints about the local Proton products. Generally, the Malaysian public is not happy about the local car. Though the local car is, one or two thousand cheaper than the other imported cars, there are other factors to be considered.
First, it is the quality of our national car. The first proton rolled out in September 1985. Well, that was good. We were very proud about our national car. It was the pride of our nation. Why not? It was the brain-child of our Tun Dr.Mahathir Muhammad, the then Prime Minister of Malaysia. He was our hero!
After one or two years later our hero became zero! Dr.Mahathir was interested only to show to the world that Malaysia could manufacture her own car. Profit-wise or quality-wise nothing concrete was done. Since Proton is a duplication of Mitsubishi, the Japanese made tons of money and Malaysians made tons of honey out of this national-pride project!
Proton is a Malaysian-made car with the Japanese technology. It is better to say Proton made by Japanese in Malaysia and thus became a Malaysian-made car! The Malaysians never learn anything from this billion dollar industry. No technogy transfer, no expertise learnt, no profit made except a few who became overnight millionaires! There was no political will to upgrade the industry.
The motor industry is a very competitive industry. Are we Malaysians capable of or do we have the capability to run an industry of this kind? According to our former Prime Minister, Dr.Mahathir Muhammed, yes, we can. When he was the Prime Minister of Malaysia, he made Malaysians to believe, everything was possible under the sun. But after he left the government , nothing was possible with the Malaysians! It seems that we cannot even compete with Thailand or even Vietnam! Our neighbouring countries do better than Malaysia.
So what is the remedy for this Proton/Mercedes issue? Is it right for the Terengganu government to go for Mercedes? No it is not right! Better go for Perdana Executive just like other state governments in Malaysia. Millions and millions have been spent for this national project. All these are taxpayers’ money. The company should be revamped and place somebody who knows his job. When Malaysian Airlines can do it, why not Proton? We can and let us be positive!
Don’t be surprised! The state government is not an opposition-controlled. The state is part of the ruling Barisonal National government. But the state executive councillors or the senior state government officials are not to be blamed for this episode.
All the while there have been many complaints about the local Proton products. Generally, the Malaysian public is not happy about the local car. Though the local car is, one or two thousand cheaper than the other imported cars, there are other factors to be considered.
First, it is the quality of our national car. The first proton rolled out in September 1985. Well, that was good. We were very proud about our national car. It was the pride of our nation. Why not? It was the brain-child of our Tun Dr.Mahathir Muhammad, the then Prime Minister of Malaysia. He was our hero!
After one or two years later our hero became zero! Dr.Mahathir was interested only to show to the world that Malaysia could manufacture her own car. Profit-wise or quality-wise nothing concrete was done. Since Proton is a duplication of Mitsubishi, the Japanese made tons of money and Malaysians made tons of honey out of this national-pride project!
Proton is a Malaysian-made car with the Japanese technology. It is better to say Proton made by Japanese in Malaysia and thus became a Malaysian-made car! The Malaysians never learn anything from this billion dollar industry. No technogy transfer, no expertise learnt, no profit made except a few who became overnight millionaires! There was no political will to upgrade the industry.
The motor industry is a very competitive industry. Are we Malaysians capable of or do we have the capability to run an industry of this kind? According to our former Prime Minister, Dr.Mahathir Muhammed, yes, we can. When he was the Prime Minister of Malaysia, he made Malaysians to believe, everything was possible under the sun. But after he left the government , nothing was possible with the Malaysians! It seems that we cannot even compete with Thailand or even Vietnam! Our neighbouring countries do better than Malaysia.
So what is the remedy for this Proton/Mercedes issue? Is it right for the Terengganu government to go for Mercedes? No it is not right! Better go for Perdana Executive just like other state governments in Malaysia. Millions and millions have been spent for this national project. All these are taxpayers’ money. The company should be revamped and place somebody who knows his job. When Malaysian Airlines can do it, why not Proton? We can and let us be positive!
