Category Archives: Proton

UMNO’s system for choosing leaders must change: Dr Mahathir

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April 24, 2016

UMNO’s system for choosing leaders must change: Dr Mahathir

Former Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks to Channel NewsAsia about his citizens’ movement against current Prime Minister Najib Razak and his track record of picking leaders for the country.

by Melissa Goh, Malaysia Bureau Chief, Channel NewsAsia

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/umno-s-system-for/2722040.html

Progress made by a citizens’ movement against the Najib Razak administration is “quite good”, former Prime Minister of Malaysia Mahathir Mohamad told Channel NewsAsia. Dr Mahathir, who has been granting interviews to international media as he seeks to ramp up his campaign against the government, said the RM2.6 billion (US$681 million) deposited in Mr Najib’s private accounts was the “straw that broke the camel’s back”, even though the Prime Minister has been cleared of wrongdoing.

Dr Mahathir also spoke candidly when asked if he misjudged the people that he chose to back as successors.

Melissa Goh: Let’s talk about the citizen’ movement now. It’s been more than a month since you led a group made up of opposition leaders, mostly former cabinet ministers as well as civil right activists, and launched the citizens’ declaration. How would you rate the progress so far? Would you say that you have the support of the people?

Dr Mahathir:“I think given a little bit more time, we would achieve a million declaration”: Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad speaks about the citizen’s movement in Malaysia. MORE: http://bit.ly/1VJ2zFJ

Melissa Goh: Many commentators elsewhere said what is happening in Malaysia now is a “natural” progression of your policies that you put in place when you were Prime Minister of Malaysia. What do you have to say about that?

Dr Mahathir:Were there any protest like you see now? People protesting to have me removed? They didn’t. In the end I removed myself””: Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad touches on whether the situation in Malaysia is due to his own policies. http://bit.ly/1VJ2zFJ

Melissa Goh: You haven’t had much luck with your previous picks of prime ministers. Was it a case of misjudgement?

Dr Mahathir:  “The system in UMNO for choosing leaders must be changed”: Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad. http://bit.ly/1VJ2zFJ

Melissa Goh: You resigned as Proton chairman and a week after that, the Malaysian government approved a bailout to help the company pay its debts. Was your departure a condition for the bailout approval?

Dr Mahathir:“They haven’t given”: Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad talks about whether his departure was a condition for the approval to bail out Proton Cars. http://bit.ly/1VJ2zFJ

 

 

 

Tolls and Taxes, Corruption and what is next (?)

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October 13, 2015

ProtonFunding a Man’s Ego

COMMENT: We are being buggered by our government everyday and made to bear the burden of their policy cock-ups, failures, sheer incompetence and blatant corruption. Our car national policy is one classic example. We know that our national car project, conceived by Tun Dr. Mahathir in the 1980s, is a failure, an outcome that was predicted by our economists (like Chee Peng Lim, K.S. Jomo,  Edmund Terence Gomez et.al ) decades ago. Yet we continue to fund this failed project to this day. Why?  Out of deference to Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad?

Time and time again, Proton had to be supported by taxpayers (although it is now privatised to Syed Mokhtar’s DRB Group). Its R&D programme is being funded by the Federal Government and the national car is insulated from foreign competition by high import duties, meaning that without this high tariff, Proton cannot compete and fund its own R&D. Do we know what R&D is being done at Proton?

Something has gone terribly wrong when we have to burden the Malaysian consumer with taxes and  heavy excise duties of all kinds. Even our privatization policy is a one big mess. It is time for our government to take a hard nosed approach towards all GLCs, and their management should be told that if they failed to perform that the government would shut down their companies. Can you count how many times, Malaysia Airlines and Bank Bumiputra (before it was absorded by CIMB) had to be bailed out by fresh funds from the Treasury? I can’t. –Din Merican

What I Think

Jahabar Sadiq

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Published: October 13,  2015

jahabarKlang Valley toll rates are up, fuel prices will stay high, the road tax is here to stay, cars remain pricey, so what’s new, Malaysia? Fact is, toll rates will rise every three years or so, according to contract. But the ruling federal government delays it every time there is a general election, and use taxpayers’ money to compensate them. We can’t change the toll contracts and fuel prices are dictated by global prices, but the government can cut road and vehicle taxes. Why are we paying more in taxes when our wallet is already emptied by toll rates and fuel at market prices?