Our 1 Trillion Ringgit Proton
The billions of ringgit that a certain government investment vehicle sporting the 1 Malaysia brand owes is nothing compared to what has already been spent on our “National” Mitsubishi.
Andrew Gomez, FMT
One trillion ringgit. Or half a trillion. Or a quarter trillion.
That’s how much money that you and I, dear reader, had to pay in total for Malaysia’s Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional (i.e. Proton) Saga.
In 1985, it was just a rebadged Mitsubishi Lancer F-model. Mitsubishi was prevented from selling that model in Malaysia since Dr.Mahathir Mohamed wanted it to be a “Malaysian” car.
With an 8-valve Mitsubishi “Orion” engine, slightly modified Mitsubishi coachwork and trim, it was hardly “Malaysian” though. Perhaps the only Malaysian components were the car’s rubber tires and a few other odd parts, including the wipers.
How much? Berapa?
The first Saga 1.3 Sederhana sold for about RM16,000 or so, OTR. Cheap?
No, not really since prices of all other cars had been artificially hiked to make the Saga appear cheap. And that is still the case today. Luckily Malaysians don’t complain about the injustice they suffer daily.
Perhaps the car’s most distinctive feature, aside from the overheating and poor fuel consumption, was the inevitable rattle from the dashboard when the engine idled. Grrrrr..rrrrr. The car’s logo was eventually changed to depict a tiger that growled, but only at idle speeds when the car was stuck in inevitable traffic jams.
Lately there seems to be much interest in the billions of ringgit that a certain government investment vehicle sporting the 1 Malaysia brand now owes. But really, what are billions compared to the half-trillion or quarter trillion ringgit of our tax money which has already been spent on our “National” Mitsubishi?
