Pak Lah sheds crocodile tears over Proton
21-02-2006 

PAK LAH SAYS PROTON needs a foreign partner after his government prevented one to join hands with the carmaker. The adviser to Proton, and the man who inisisted it be set up, Tun Mahathir Mohamed, was so angry when the foreign partner, Volkswagen, withdrew from the link-up that he returned the VW car that was given him. What is now known is that deals behind to ensure that an private parties benefit rather than the nation were hatched at that time, and Proton naturally was the loser. Volkswagen withdrew from the deal, but why it did so is not made public. The car company withdrew because a company just formed by that efficient but corrupt minister, Datin Rafidah Aziz's niece and nephew was given enough APs to allow Volkswagen to come into Malaysia without Proton. Since the AP is Pak Lah's son-in-law's cousin, Pak Lah cannot raise objections to the deal. Instead, he can only say inanities about Proton needing a foreign partner.

Proton needs a foreign partner to survive. Pak Lah says to be efficient and productive as well. It needs a market outside Malaysia, which it cannot get because the volume is too small for models to be changed every year. Tun Mahathir realised this years ago, and had several foreign partners after Mitsubisi pulled out. First, it was Renault of France. The Proton Tiara had a Renault engine, but that collobaration did not last. Volkswagen was next but the government would not let its link up with Proton to succeed. It allowed Datin Rafidah's niece and her husband to form a shell company to which it was given enough APs to convince Volkswagen that it could do better in Malaysia without Proton. Volkswagen aborted its commitment to Proton. Tun Mahathir has said in the past that Proton suffered because of the APs. But it was he in government who institued it, and prevented Proton from succeeding. The decision taken on the APs was political, and the minister dished it out for political reasons. It was also given to her family. Tun Mahathir as prime minister did not object then,

He is not in office, remains active in politics, and believes as many do that Pak Lah believes inaction will see him through. He does not want to take decisions, is long on homilies but little on administration, thinks the world of his son-in-law who is more important than any of his advisers. The son-in-law holds no official position, but gets to see top secret material. Pak Lah allows the AP scandal to tarnish his government for any action he takes will also offend his son-in-law. So he talks around the issue, tells everybody to obey laws and orders but his family or his ministers', He has to allow other ministers to divert national assets into ministerial or private hands so that his son-in-law can amass wealth because of who he is. He is worth more than RM500 million, and continues to arise as government assets are sold for his benefit.

Proton was formed a car manufacturer with a hidden agenda to lose the Malay fear of technology. It was in the vaguard of converting Malaysia from an agricultural national to a technological one. But that was forgotten after it was set up, and decisions taken reflected not this ideal but how money went into official's pockets. When politicians were openly corrupt, the rest of the civil service follows. There was enough illegal gratification for every one, and ideals were lost for money. And this spread to other policies as well. CyberJaya is a success because land prices not that it is a technological hub. It is not surprising therefore to see Proton today as a step child. No one, perhaps but Tun Mahathir, is interested in its success, if it means private invidials cannot benefit.

But the fiction is still maintained. Pak Lah says Proton is a national icon, and would never allow majority control to go into private hands. Does it matter when government policies and actions prevent Proton from being a national icon Malaysians can be proud of? The government finds that its past policies are coming home to roost. Globalisation, which Malaysia took to its heart, is beginning to affect this country. There is the hidden agenda that Malays must be at the top, and the Chinese and Indians must be kept down. The man now turning around MAS after it was made a bankrupt by Malays said he would do so if Pak Lah would promise no interference from the government or its politicians. He has brought back into MAS an Indian who left it to join Air Asia at eight or nine times his salary when he left, for five years. But it is of no use if the end result is what happened to Proton.

When officials are promoted because he failed in his last job, and this culture is prevalent at most government linked companies, and Malays, not Malaysians, are promoted, It would be all but impossible to get them to be on the team. Only a handful of Indians and Chinese were taken into the uniformed services in the wake of the New Economic Policy. Today, when the police needs non-Malay officers and men to bridge the widening gulf between it and the peope, there are not only not around but new recuits are not forthcoming. One non-Malay police officer retirmed as an assistanct superintendent, one step higher. He was considered much above average, so he was kept at head office or in state or district headquarters, never allowed to be on the beat or deal with people. Is it any wonder the intelligent non-Malay does not want to blight his career by working for the government?

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@streamyx.com