Tun Mahathir, Proton, Mahaleel and the AP Saga

I finally read the two articles on Tun Mahathir today during my lunch break. The first article was his press release regarding the AP and Datuk Seri Rafidah issue. The second was an interview by the tabloid with him on Tengku Mahaleel’s dismissal.

I won’t be giving you a political or economical commentary here, I think many other qualified people have done so (Like Jeff Ooi, MackZul and Paul Tan).

What I’d like to say is my humble observations on Proton, our former Prime Minister, Tengku Mahaleel and the AP saga.

• Tun Mahathir is an angry man. Any bystander can notice that. For those of us who have been observing him for more than 20 years, the way he speaks and answers reporter questions is typical, vintage Mahathir. Some find it dismissive, irrelevant and temperamental, others call him a PR genius.
  
  
• Not only that, he is also annoyed with some of his ministers in his former cabinet, especially the UMNO ones. Of course he won’t say who, but he makes that reference a few times. On Rafidah, he neither defends or openly criticizes her, but you can guess they won’t be teeing off together this Sunday.
  
  
• For an 80-year guy, he sure looks good. My tea-lady insists it’s because of… oh, never mind.
  
  
• I don’t think Tengku Mahaleel’s is the end of the world for him. Hundreds of other companies, bumi or non-bumi will be knocking on his door to get him on their board of directors.
  
  
• Perodua makes better quality cars than Proton. Those who have driven both models can attest to that.
  
  
• About the AP list. For years everyone in the industry roughly knows who’s on the list. So why the fuss? Because I think the release of the list was a knee-jerk reaction to the pressure. Now that it’s out, what’s next?
  
  
• With all this brouhaha, will someone tell me when are they going to reduce the excise tax for imported cars?
  
  
• The Wira model is more than 10 years old. The Iswara is nearing 20. Kind of weird to be paying more than RM40k for ancient models, wouldn’t you say?
  

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