Hi folks. Had a great time yesterday at my favorite tea shop again - Bharat in the Cameron Highlands. Nice drive, too many people. You cannot stop the Camerons from developing. But the government (Federal and State) are neglecting it. It is business, agriculture, tourism, economy, jobs, tax revenue for the government, more tax money to steal, more money to spend on cronies etc. Why cant you folks understand this simple cycle? Lagi maju Cameron Highlands, lagi banyak hasil masuk dalam kocek kerajaan. Lagi banyak duit hasil untuk disonglap. Itu pun tak faham?
Tea at Bharat's. The other half of the other
half did not want to be in this picture.
Ha-lf ha-lf ha-lf.
I could not upload any new stuff yesterday. However I would like to reproduce the two comments sent by commenter Dakwan in the previous post (thank you Dakwan) about the 3rd mational car. Here are Dakwan's comments in full.
My comments in blue.
DakwanSaturday, August 10, 2019 10:05:00 AM
God, they screw us up!
1. We, Malaysians love car. It is a necessity nowadays compared to more than 30 years ago, where cars were only for the have-have people. Yes, my father bought his first car Fiat Model 128 at RM400.00 in 1984/1985 (the seller shared this with me). I love car too and my all-time favourite is Ferrari F430 Scuderia.
2. Since the first Proton car rolled out in 1985, other brands were forced to sell at the higher price due to tax structure and other barriers created to protect the national car.Thus, Proton enjoyed the various forms of protection from the Government and indirectly had created demand for the brand. I call this ‘force-demand’.
3. Lower price is always Proton strength but it does not mean the car is affordable. Car price in Malaysia is extremely high, one of the highest in the world. For the sake of one company.
4. At one time, Proton had more than 80% market share in Malaysia. When Toyota and Honda introduced Vios and City respectively in 2003/2004, it had started the downfall of Proton. Both models were priced around RM8Ok then and had been hot-selling models for Toyota and Honda ever since. Today, market share for Proton is around 15% of Total Industry Volume.
5. Proton has changed numerous owners until recently bought over by Geely. Even Geely holds only 49.5% equity but I consider Proton as foreign-owned company.
(OSTB : Proton has now become Geely in everything except its name. Proton can survive again because of Geely - including rebadging Geely models X70, X50 etc. But I can assure you that Geely will use horrendous 'transfer pricing' as well as charge Proton exhorbitant management fees etc to make sure that although they own only 49.5% of Proton they will get as close to 100% of the profit as possible. The local shareholders, namely Syed Mokhtar, are not going to get as much.)
6. Annual average income for Americans is USD50,000. Since they buy goods and services in US dollar, the denominator will not be changed to other currencies. And for us - all earn RM45,000 in average a year.
7. In the US, the selling price for BMW 330i is USD40,000.00 which equals to 10 months salary. In our beloved country, the same model costs us RM330,000.00 which equals to 7 years of income. Here, with your 10 month salary what car can you buy?
(OSTB : You can buy a Perodua Axia RM28,000, Proton Saga RM32,000)
8. One more. Honda Civic selling price in the US is USD19,000.00 which equivalent to 4.6 months salary. Lo and behold here in our beloved country, the price is RM110,000 which equals to 29 months of your salary.
(OSTB : The Honda Civic should also sell here for US19,000, or about RM80,000. Instead it sells for 38% more than in the US).
9. Germans take home 39,000 Euros a year. Golf (equivalent to TSI) price starts from 27,000 euros in Germany. That’s around 8.3 months of salary. Proton Saga costs you 9 months average salary. Pergilah tengok performance Golf TSI dengan Proton Saga. Buat perbandingan.
10. But our politicians and their goons ni pandai. Nak tunjuk Malaysia ni murah, dia orang tukarlah kos ke ringgit. Nampak la mahal. Tapi, the Americans are paid and pay in US Dollar. Their salary is in US dollar. Depa bukan pi bank tukar kepada ringgit dan beli barang. The business transaction is done in USD over there.
11. From year 2017 data (Malaysia), 36% insolvency cases were due to unpaid car loan and followed by house loan defaults at 26% and personal loan at 24%.
(OSTB : The vast majority of these car loan defaulters would be Malays. The highest car prices in the world is making more Malays become insolvent. Congratulations are due to Dr Mahathir.)
12. With Proton is now 34 years old, how many Malays have become millionaires? How many car exported? How many engineers employed? How much value added to the economy? Why is the 10 years old Exora still on sale? How many engine variations ever produced and put in the car by Proton?
(OSTB : How many Malays have become millionaires? The answer is : More Malays have become insolvent. For each Malay millionaire yang tak jadi, there are a hundred insolvent Malays. I think that is the equation. How much value added to the economy? Not much. Why is the 10 year old Exora still on sale? Because the Exora is not 20 years old yet. Be patient. Please wait another 10 years.)
13. It is time to liberalize the automotive industry in Malaysia. Let Proton compete with other brands on the same level playing field. Lagipun Proton dah berusia 34 tahun. Besau dah. They have the capability, resources, technology to compete as they claimed. Remember “Asia’s answer to BMW”?
(OSTB : As you said earlier it is ‘force-demand’. )
14. Let the people decide what to buy. If your product is good as claimed, they will continue buying. Kalau takat nak buat kereta, bila orang complain lepas tu buat statement “Jenama lain pun rosak jugak.” Please take one day off, go to Port Dickson and walk west.
15. Adios. Hasta pronto.
2. It was reported the project to be funded by unnamed private company. The car would be on sale in 2021. Can I know what is the name of the car? ProTiga? Proga? Proti? Who is that company? Can you disclose the name?
3. Personally, Malaysia does not need another national car. We have seen how our first project has failed us and end up been sold to foreign company. Now the company has returned to its root selling rebagde car.
4. We the rakyat have been slapped with high car price for the sake of one company.
5. Vinfast is the newcomer in automotive industry in SEA. It is a subsidiary of Vin Group of Vietnam, a conglomorate.
6. They have invested USD1.5 billion to set up manufacturing plant in Vietnam. How much that private company to invest for ProTiga?
7. The owner is a billionaire from Vietnam who started his business empire selling noodles in Ukraine.
8. A new billionare in the making while we are still remain poor.
9. Salam Aidiladha.
My comments : I am so glad that the commenter Dakwan (who is a Malay) understands the issue so well.
Some morons say wild things like we dont need cars because we should take the public transport. Yo bodoh mangkuk hayun, when your father is dying at three am in the morning in Kapit or Lenggong or Petaling Jaya then drag your father to the nearest MRT station to take him to hospital. Or wait for the bus to take you from Bangi to Bangsar South. There is none. You must change buses and trains two or three times and the journey is more than one hour. From Puchong To Bangsar South you must take two trains (MRT and Putra) and then take a taxi or wait forever for a bus. More than one hour. And if you are carrying your mother in law's rice cooker with you you can carry it on your head.
We really must make sure that all motor vehicles sold in Malaysia match the world market prices.
The USA suffers much higher labor costs, manufacturing costs, rental costs and all other costs than Malaysia. Yet in the USA the Made in Germany BMW 330 sells for only USD40,000 (about RM170,000).
The same car sells here for RM330,000 !!
This is only possible when large sections of the population are bodoh macam pintu. You do not know what is good for you.
Some dunggus (English spelling lah) say the high taxes on cars is used to build hospitals. I say brader bodoh macam pintu, other countries can build bigger and better hospitals but they dont even have taxes on cars.
Let me try to make you understand. Let me give you a simple example - so easy that even bodoh pintu like you can understand.
The market price of gold (emas 916) today is RM208 satu gram. Ini harga Poh Kong ok. But since you are bodoh macam pintu, let me charge you RM258 satu gram.
You will ask (or you should ask) - "Why do you charge me RM258 satu gram when the market price is only RM208 satu gram? That is an extra RM50 per gram. "
This is when I tell you, 'That extra RM50 is taxes. I will send that extra RM50 per gram to the LHDN (Lembaga Hasil) so that the government can use the extra money to build hospitals and schools.'
So while the rest of the world pays only RM208 per gram of gold (and their governments can build better hospitals, roads and schools) you must pay RM258 per gram and you get inferior quality roads, sekolah jadi bodoh bila keluar and hospitals where you can get killed by poor quality medical service.
Are these too many words?
Susah sangat ke nak faham?
Just stick to world market prices.
Whenever you are in doubt about how much to pay, just pay world market prices.
Harga pasaran or harga semasa sedunia. You will be safe.
