Tun Dah Merajuk

If you're wondering why, he is peeved over the failure of the national car, and understandably so, as that was his baby. I am, sadly, old enough to remember the first ever Proton that rolled out sometime in the mid 80s.

It sent our spirits soaring, boosted our hopes, flung ambitions high -- and it also dashed some dreams, frustrated some aspirations, and frankly disappointed us.

Oh Proton, you could have been so much more.

Alas, but Proton was why the average Malaysian could not afford a decent car, because there was so much protectionism in way of tariffs on any imported car. To make matters worse, it appeared that Proton had haemorrhaged its good engineers and was devoid of creative design inspiration when it proposed designing an Islamic car.

I have nothing against religion, but I hardly think there is a market for Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or Jewish cars anymore than there is for Islamic cars.

The Japanese and Koreans emerged from humble beginnings to become serious automobile manufacturers. We were supposed to "Look East" and emulate them, but alas, Proton didn't quite scale those heights.

Dr M describes how the Austins and Morrises of yesteryear have largely disappeared from the market despite being popular European cars.

I could go one step further and rubbish BMW for its drivetrain issues and Volkswagon for its emission scandal. Oh, and let's not forget Audi, whose CEO was arrested over the same issue.

European cars are so yesterday, while American cars are mostly crap and not even worthy of a scandal.

No doubt my readership may wish to disagree, and I am open to being schooled on this subject, if said readership is convincing enough.

But back to the topic of a national car. Dr M asserts that Japan's and Korea's success with their cars has led to their high quality of life, wealth, improved technology, robust economy etc -- if we had followed suit, we would be in a better place than we are at the moment.

I suspect that that is a spurious argument as Japan has a massive deficit, possibly even worse than the US (and that is saying something). Many Japanese have adopted a minimalist lifestyle which suggests that they are not entirely content with the ostentatious way of life. Behind that veneer of perfection is a troubled economy.

"Nevermind," says Dr M, "Malaysia is a nation of consumers, rice planters and fishermen. That's what we want and that's what we get."

A bit unfair, methinks. The world needs more farmers and food producers. What it does not need is more fossil-fuelled cars polluting the environment.

The trend these days is to invent electric cars, not just hybrids. Fossil fuels are going out of fashion, and even power generation has veered towards renewable energy: hydro, solar and wind.

To get about, we should be walking or cycling, not driving.

When it comes to producing traditional cars, ladies and gentlemen, that ship has sailed.

We could become a hugely successful and prosperous nation, but if we do, it wouldn't be because of cars.