1MDB mere road kill compared to Dr M's Proton

Compared to Proton, 1MDB, the troubled brainchild of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, is a lesser menace as far as a pro-Umno portal is concerned.

From the aspect of a pure business model, MYKMU.net described the national car maker, conceived by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad as "hancur" (crushed) and far worse than 1MDB.

"The government may only lose a few billions with 1MDB's failure.

"The government, however, incurred greater losses with Proton, Perjawa Steel, Forex scandal and MAS compared to 1MDB," it said

As for Najib, the portal said the prime minister's "biggest mistake" was conceding to Mahathir's request that Proton be sold to business tycoon Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhari.

Najib, it said, should have allowed Proton to be taken over by a renowned car manufacturer on the condition that the company's vendors and staff are retained.

This, it added, would have ensured that even if the Proton brand is closed, the national automotive industry would continue to thrive and Proton's downstream would have business.

"Unfortunately, Najib did not have the political courage to turn down Mahathir's suggestion because he did not wish to be accused of spoiling the Proton brand," it said.

Even if Proton closes now, MyKMU said Syed Mokthar would still profit because the assets, especially the land owned by Proton, would remain his.

"But when this happens, the government will have to shoulder the huge political burden in terms of economy, employment and the automotive industry," it noted.

The MyKMU article was based on an open letter to Mahathir, who is the chairperson of Proton, from a disgruntled vendor, published in Malaysia Today.

The portal said while the former premier was not wrong in implementing the idea to produce cars, unfortunately, Proton from the aspect of technological and automotive development can no longer be salvaged.

"It is just a local industry that is still surviving because of government protection and the people's patriotism," it said.

As for the open letter, MyKMU said the anguish of Proton's suppliers and vendors with regard to payment is expected.

"For the past 10 years, the government has known that Proton cannot compete with the big players in a free trade world.

"Today, the Asean automotive industry is controlled by Thailand and perhaps even Indonesia because Malaysia wants to continue protecting Proton," it added.

Early this month, Mahathir had accused the Najib-led government of not supporting or encouraging Proton financially in its bid to produce electric cars.

He also said Proton should not be blamed for the high prices of other marques, and pinned the blame on the government again for slapping hefty taxes on cars to raise revenue.

Using a football analogy, the former premier said Proton is unable to compete with the big names.

"If you have a team consisting of 12-year-olds and ask them to play against Manchester United or Liverpool, you know the result. So that is what we are up against," he said.

Proton was incorporated in 1983, two years after Mahathir took over as prime minister, a post which he held for 22 years.

Though popular in the past, Proton soon began to lose out to other makes with consumers complaining about its inferior build and the brand often becoming the subject of humour. -Mkini