Proton vs Toyota!

It is now a known fact that many state governments are “upgrading” their official car from local brand to foreign ones. There were many reasons given, each raising doubts from the public. It is hard to blame those who are objecting to this idea as the “upgrade” is paid with taxpayers’ money.

In my opinion, this move is an insult to locally manufactured cars and a showcase of being unconfident of local products. Many reasons given by the state governments show they believe that Proton cars are of lower quality and require a higher maintenance fee. The example would be how the Perak executive councilors said that the reason why they bought the 2.4 litre Toyota camry instead of the 2.0 litre model is because the latter is underpowered. This statement totally disregards Proton cars of their capability, a showcase of them not believing in local products’ quality. Also, the word “upgrading” signifies the local brand-Proton is of lower level when compared to foreign brands.

It is not hard to explain why campaigns encouraging Malaysians to buy local goods are not working as the state governments themselves are not practicing it. In fact, they are unconfident of our local cars and recognize the quality of foreign brands, providing Toyota and Mercedes free publicity.

Imagine what the Japanese diplomats would think of our cars when they see Malaysian state government officers are driving cars manufactured by them. It is hard to blame any Japanese bragging about their cars as they have the perfect line: “Even Malaysian governments choose our brands over any of their own.”