Proton a 'sick child' that needs medicine, minister tells critics

Proton is a “sick child” that needs medicine, said Finance Minister II Johari Abdul Ghani on the sale of a 49.9 percent stake in Proton Holdings Bhd to a China firm.

He appears to be alluding to one of the move's fiercest critics, former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who on Thursday lamented his “child” Proton has been lost, following DRB-Hicom Bhd's sale of the significant Proton share to Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd.

Johari, in an apparent response to Mahathir, said Proton needs medicine to continue operations and to avoid a far worse situation in future.

“This child is sick, and we need to give it medicine.

“In the business world, if a company is run down, we need to rework its business model as best we can,” he was reported as saying in Utusan Malaysia today.

“We cannot be too sentimental about this. We also need to think about the fate and future of the 10,000 Proton staff including the suppliers and vendors if the car maker can no longer compete, or needs to shut down,” said Johari.

“We need to accept that the world has changed. We cannot sell cars that have the technology of 20 or 30 years ago,” he said, adding there is “absolutely nothing political” about the move.

According to Utusan, he was asked to comment on the deal's critics after a Ramadan function at a mosque in his Titiwangsa constituency in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

He further hit out at unnamed critics claiming they had never even supported the national car themselves.

“Many parties claim to care for Proton, but they themselves have never bought a Proton car.

“If you love Proton, the you should buy the car,” Utusan reported him saying.- Mkini