One of the very first things Dr Mahathir Mohamad had done as the 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia was to announce the revival of a new national car project to the world. This is despite the self-declared RM1 trillion national debt and the many promises from their election manifestos that remain unfulfilled. Priorities, am I right?

Dr Mahathir went on and claimed, unlike Proton, the third car project would be fully driven by the private sector — a point that was reaffirmed by both Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng and Entrepreneur Development Minister Mohd Redzuan. For one brief moment, with three bigshot ministers assuring us, it seemed like Malaysians would not be chained into footing the bill for stroking Mahathir’s ego this time.

Unfortunately, like the bulk of their election promises, it was all lies. In January, the government injected approximately RM20 million of public funds into the third national car just to develop the prototype. RM20 million for a prototype. What? You could buy 450 Perodua Myvis, or feed 45,000 hungry orphans for a month with that kind of money.

And, this wouldn’t even be the last time our hard-earned money would be siphoned into funding Mahathir’s silly dream. A little while back, Dr Mahathir said “private entities” such as SilTerra Malaysia Sdn Bhd would be fully financing his new car project. That would have been cool except for the fact that SilTerra Malaysia is anything but private. It is listed under the semiconductor company’s own website that it is owned by Khazanah Nasional, the sovereign wealth fund of Malaysia.

So, do you know where the money from our sovereign wealth fund comes from? The short answer is... your pockets. Your tax money will be taken by the government, placed into Khazanah Nasional, which subsequently channels the funds to SilTerra Malaysia, and finally the national car project. A lengthier approach,  Mahathir’s pet project is nonetheless steadily getting an equally firm grip on public funds as before with Proton.

Tell us what do you think about the government trying to cover up spending our money on the third national car? Do you think it is wise for Pakatan Harapan to squander our money on what many had considered a sunset industry?

-MCA Online-