PATRIOTISM IN MOTORING

Most recently, our country's own motoring company just launched a new hot hatchback. clearly the car was meant to be up against some of the big names such as Ford, Peugeot and other company that produces hot hatchers. of course some of us would say it is a bit ambitious for Proton to oppose these companies. but let's not forget, those people at Proton are Malaysians like us with dreams of seeing our own carmaker company deserve the same applause as of those veteran players.

introducing the new, Suprima S. it features one of Proton's finest engine, 1.6 litre turbo that produces 138bhp with unbelievable 205Nm torque that comes as soon as the RPM reached the 2000 mark. to make it simple, let's just say, and i'm quoting the Top Gear magazine that the engine has much more power than the engine in the Nissan Almera. of course, in that mag, the TG people are testing the Preve which also has the same engine. other than the engine, the Suprima S features other toys that would leave other cars envying the likes of Suprima. those toys are such as the front parking sensor, reverse camera, built-in GPS, DVD player, paddle shifters, auto cruise and other gizmos which some of it are never heard of in Japanese cars. the most rare feature of the car is the Android interface for the radio. I've been told by the salesman, the only car that was known to use such technology other than Suprima is Britain's local brand, Bentley. that's pretty impressive. all in all, we can say that Proton had gone through a lot of changes lately. however, these changes are not likely to create effect any time sooner. now why is that?

what is it that makes this once beloved carmaker turned grey on their sales? what is it that drew lots of people away from one of the respectable carmakers on the planet? in my opinion, it's because of the lack of patriotism amongst Malaysians. but people are refuse to accept that notion. however, they would be very kind to point their finger to the cause. if you ask them, they would say that local cars are no good, they are badly built, out-dated and lots of other cliche reasons for them not to buy local cars. yes, we cannot deny that Proton had once did some questionable call. yes, they are not as well-built as other cars. and yes, they are a little bit behind.

but might i remind you, Proton is the rightful owner of British racing car company, Lotus. in fact, most of Proton cars are built under the influence of Lotus. if you remember the key words of Lotus Ride and Handling that was featured in most of the models like the new Suprima S, Persona, Exora, Saga and many more. now, for a company that only been established during the year where other people are far ahead in motoring business, that is something we should be proud of. i mean, why shouldn't we? our cars has the same driving capabilities as the cars in Europe. isn't that the dream? of course, no matter how fancy our cars may get, Malaysians would still under the influence of foreign products are better.

so, to show that supporting your own product is worthy, i'm calling our neighbours from the land of Korea. if we look closely on korea's motoring history, it would ring some bells. however, the different between our story and their is the support from the countrymen. in those times, they had to made do with some moving metals on wheels they call Hyundai or KIA which as we all know today, those names are amongst the serious contenders in the world of motoring. but it started just like us. then slowly but definitely made their way to the top. all of it is because of the support from their own people. of course, most of you would say they had to do so to prevent extra charges. to me, if they are really sick of it, they would probably overcome the extra charges problems. but they didn't. why is that? i know, it's because they are patriotic. it's just like a movie i once watched. the character would say: "you can't win a marathon without putting on some bandages on your nipples." and you know what, that is exactly what the Korean did.

so, before i end this article, i'm restating my stand that the reason for Malaysian to become unsupportive towards local cars is because of the lack of patriotism. people, we might wanna change our way of life. we cannot be the countrymen that band their own country's product. in sailor terms, that is call mutiny. and the punishment for mutineers is death. we wouldn't wan that now would we?