Nobody wants a 3rd national car except Dr M

He's determined to have a third national car.

Dr M seems intent on setting up a third "national car". This was one of the first few things he announced after becoming PM again. That goes to show how much he prioritizes this. But Lim Guan Eng assured the public that government funds can't be used for this.

So, it would seem like this has to be a private sector initiative. Then recently Dr M made the bizarre claim that Khazanah, the government investment arm, is not the government.

Yes, it's true, Khazanah is not the government but it's a funds are public funds. None other than Khazanah's MD Shahril Ridza Ridzuan has pointed this out.

This shows two things. Firstly, even though Dr M is intent on creating a 3rd national car, he's not going to have it his way very easily. During his first tenure as PM he could have bulldozed such a project through but not this time. Not when the most of his Cabinet (basically every MP who is not from Bersatu and probably even a few who are from Bersatu) and practically every working adult in Malaysia doesn't want it.

It's not that people are against "Made-in-Malaysia" products. It's that generations of Malaysians have had to endure high car prices because the government had to protect Proton. Presumably that would still be the case with a third national car.

What's the point of having a national car if it's more expensive than what an imported car would normally be? The result of having a national car has been high local car prices and even higher imported car prices. Which consumer would want that?

Dr M's rationale is that it's important to have a national car industry so that we don't remain a country of consumers. We should be creating things, not just buying things. We should be entrepreneurial.

Well, there are plenty of small countries in the world where high tech industries have blossomed and where the people are entrepreneurial -- but they don't have a national car. In fact most countries don't have national cars.

There are so many economic activities the government could be supporting and promoting which would not require protectionism. We are tropical country with lush flora and fauna. Why can't we develop a dynamic eco-tourism industry? We have some of the best food in the world. How about developing that further and exporting our great food to the rest of the world? We should be working on really developing an ICT sector. And maybe even a film industry (New Zealand, a much smaller country, did most of the work for the Lord of the Rings series).

We don't need or want a third national car. That much is apparent but will that stop Dr M from trying? No. But that doesn't mean he will get his way. Even if he wants it badly, there are certain things his Cabinet will not approve and I don't expect they will agree to any government funds being used to create a third national car. It's just not going to happen.