Proton car is the proud of Malaysian?

Proton car is the proud of Malaysian?
Most people around the world have probably heard about Proton, a Malaysian government backed car company.  This is not because of its cars are well known world wide, most likely it is because of acquisition of the loss making Lotus & some other loss making companies.

So, what Malaysian government has achieved for more than 20 years with its National Automotive Policy (NAP) and a series of protections for Proton cars? Some advanced automotive technologies? A national car that the nation really be proud of, like Toyota for Japan or Hyundai for Korea?   If your answer is YES then tell me which one & why you think so.

The last I've heard from the Malaysian government is "Malaysian government has made national car affordable", which was a statement issued by a minister when he was being interviewed on National Automotive Policy sometime year 2010.   How true is this statement?   The answer is TRUE.   This is an exciting achievement & some may be very proud of it.  Interested to know the tricks of such a success?   The answer is, by making all other cars very expensive & the so called national cars will be relatively affordable.

Not heard about it before or unbelievable?  Check out on-the-road price for same car with similar specifications that are selling in US, Japan, Australia and many more countries out there, and make a comparison with what you paid for your similar class of national car here in Malaysia.  This also costs us a lot more on insurance premium that we've to pay.  That is not the only impact on the tax payers out of the NAP.  I'll leave it to you to exercise your brain cells.

So, as a tax payer that have funded Proton for more than 20 years, are you still proud of Proton?  Are you willing to continue funding such a program?

Ping/Peng on NAP on 17th August 2010