Sunday, June 10, 2007

Apologies , Proton and the IGP

According to a certain website , Jeanne's ex husband was no longer around . My apologies . According to TheStar , "Jeanne was formerly married to Endon’s younger brother Othman, who was also at the ceremony." So , my apologies .

Hmm . Proton is dying my friends . How can a company that suffers net losses that sum up to 9 DIGITS per quarter ( or was it per annum ) survive the dark hole of bankruptcy ? There are a few questions I would like to ask :

1. Datuk Seri AAB , apakah misi dan visi kerajaan Malaysia dalam isu Proton ? It seems to me that efforts are not as solid as the commitment during Tun's era .

2. Datuk Azlan Hashim , di mana janji anda untuk membawa Proton ke era cemerlang , gemilang , terbilang ? As the Chairman and person in charge , you should resign if Proton continues recording a 9 digit loss . Let a competent and highly qualified expert take charge .

3. Dear Proton , when the management team is failing to produce results , do you not refer to the advisor of Proton , Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad ( just in case all of you forgot our PM for 22 years ) ? Proton was his brainchild . In other words , created and formulated by him . When we employ advisors , they are meant to provide some guidelines to us , and not as a puppet .

4. Kerajaan Malaysia , apakah tindakan yang perlu diambil apabila lambang kebangsaaan , identity negara dan institusi yang mempamerkan kejayaan dan kemajuan negara hampir tumbang ? Module MAS harus digunakan dalam isu Proton . Apply the same technique . Remove the management team that is not performing . Put in good ones . If you can see , Tengku Mahaleel was making Proton profitable . But now ?? Making losses ? The comparison of two management dynasties - crystal clear .

5. Ahli - ahli Parlimen BN , DAP , PAS , PKR dan sebagainya . Sebagai wakil - wakil rakyat , YB sekalian juga bertanggungjawab memastikan isu - isu negara diselesaikan , pentadbiran negara berjalan lancar , rang undang undang dibahas dengan kepentingan rakyat dan masa depan di minda . Oleh itu , saya ingin bertanya , apakah pendapat anda tentang Proton . Sebenarnya Proton bukanlah perkara remeh :

- Proton hak milik kerajaan Malaysia dan secara tidak langsung , hak milik rakyat .
- Proton merupakan kebanggaan negara sejak tahun 1980an .
- Proton telah membantu ramai anak-anak Malaysia terutamanya anak - anak Melayu dalam bidang kejuruteraan dan pengurusan
- Proton meletakkan Malaysia dalam senarai pengeluar otomobil yang tidak banyak di dunia
- Proton sentiasa berkembang maju dan ilmu kejuruteraan , otomobil , pengurusan dsb "diimport" ke Malaysia dari serata dunia .


These are just some of the questions I would like to raise . I know those of you who have been reading my blog will be bored of my constant nagging and entries on Proton . But trust me . Proton is winding up . When that happens , unemployment rate will get worse perhaps . Many other issues will creep in . The Proton you and I are using will be reduced to mere junk and scrap metal that is worthless when that happens . MG Rover is a good example in the UK .

Everything in this world starts slow . Even your parent's businesses . I'm sure they suffer losses . The Chinese businessmen always like to say "ask your friends and relatives to come to my shop , ok?" . The Malays and Indians will say "Sila datang lagi" . The same goes for Proton . It needs help of many buyers to survive as well .

The businesses of your parents , I'm sure when we calculate , is not as economically efficient as perhaps Walmart and Tesco in terms of consumer goods , Lafarge Group in terms of industrial materials , Exxon Mobil in terms of oil production , Nestle in terms of food products and many more . What's your dad's business ? Mini market ? Convenience store ? A restaurant , hawker ?

Well if you think Proton should wind up due to inefficiency , your parents or perhaps your own business should wind up too ! Why ? Lets take Malaysia for example . I believe economically , Esquire Kitchen that sells Chinese food is more efficient than you . Tesco is more efficient than you . 1901 Hot Dogs are more efficient . 7 Eleven as well . Many more examples .

Proton will one day succeed like how you would like your parents' or your own businesses to succeed . Proton cars are arguably inferior in terms of quality when compared to Toyota and BMW . But then , do you not agree we have moved on to greater levels and have improved our cars be it design or technology since 1980s ?

The decision lies on your hands . Not just the consumers . But the murderers of Proton range from consumers to the highest level of command , the PM of Malaysia .

For now , I shall label those who are not sailing Proton to the right direction as Pembunuh Proton . In English , it is murderer of Proton .

The IGP of Malaysia will be in hot soup from now on I believe . With RPK revealing the scandalous affairs of the Chinese gangs and the IGP of Malaysia , I wonder what will those who walk the corridors of power do . Nevertheless , this case will be up in Parliament soon . That's because our friend YB Lim Kit Siang has received a copy from some one who investigated it . Good good . Let us all see how "clean" and how "cemerlang gemilang terbilang" our country is .

Press freedom and corruption ranking was worse than Tun's era . HUH !? What was AAB's manifesto again !? Perhaps what he say is true . He has the ideas and good implementation . But in the middle of the process and the time needed for reforms to take effect , a few black dots start to impurify the content . And there ... magic .... Harry Potter made us lower in press freedom and corruption rankings . Tada !

Lol . Whatever . A Piece of My Mind rests its case .

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey man, having holidays now. How bout u guys? Say hi to the others for me :)

Anyway, just to point out some things..

1st of all, MPs are part of the legislature(also known as the Parliament), so "tanggungjawab memastikan isu - isu negara diselesaikan , pentadbiran negara berjalan lancar" are not part of their responsibilities, but of the Executive Council. Arguably, there is no full separation of power in Malaysia where MPs also form the executive council, but that would only limit those responsibilities to BN. Oppositions in Malaysia simply do not play any role in that.

Bout "rang undang undang dibahas dengan kepentingan rakyat dan masa depan di minda", hehe, one just need to refer to our "one-eye-jack" and "dung mortar" to see how Parliament debate is conducted. Hey, if they play parliament debate process on TV, we wouldn't need to illegally download the movie "Jackass" from the internet to watch people make a clown out of themselves while in the process suffer the poor speed and service the ISP provided. There would be more than enough of those on TV and it's free ^^

Secondly, your argument about efficiency is seriously flawed. The reference to small businesses cannot apply. Why? Because Tesco would not open a chain shop in a kampung. This is where the statement "small is beautiful" holds true. BTW, seriously, if u ate in a restaurant which serve food that taste like vomit, would u ever consider goin back for another bowl of puke? I don't think that I or any sane person would, even if the one running the restaurant is my relatives or best friends, but I would probably advise them to close shop... but my arguments is not about closing down Proton as I was never a supporter of winding down Proton.

One gotta know that cost efficiency is not the only way to compete in a market, one can also choose product differentiation or targeting certain market segment. It is about competing efficiently, and Proton is not doin that at all.

Can u really promise that Proton will be "successful" if it continues? Look at it now, low demand, bad management, huge losses,running down of cash reserves, inferior quality compared to others, the only thing keeping it floating is the tax duties on imported cars. What has been done?
Well, I can't really say nothing, more of nothing effective. Even the issue with VW has been dealt with so much crap, set a deadline then screw the deadline themselves, flip-flop decisions-making etc...

Do not blame the consumers.. u are a student of economics, u should know. Consumers do not react to political motives, demand changes due to price, qualities, taste and preference etc. Is there any evidence Proton is working to meet demand? It is not the consumers to accommodate the suppliers, it is the other way around.

Anyway, I wanna state that I am not against Proton, but if no major changes are taken, I would say,reluctantly, that I would prefer it gone rather than being an ever increasing black hole of tax revenue that feeds rent seekers.

Anonymous said...

I do agreed with cy sharing his view regarding this matter. I have nothing hold against Proton but if this so call "brainchild" project is a burden to Rakyat instead of some project that is of great benefit to the unfortunate, then I would say better close it down faster before the "sale value" depreciate further.

- NewsObserver

Anonymous said...

very well written..nuff said..anyway..i would also like to bring to your attention of another blog which featured Proton as its main discussion..I find it interesting and would like to share it with other readers as well(written by Malayan Warrior)..you could read it at http://budakperak.blogspot.com/