If I Was The Boss of Proton: A Hypothetical Dream

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_(automobile)

Before I begin, I would first like to point out that today's post is hypothetical. I have absolutely no intentions to snub the great minds that have been shaping the greatest conglomerates in Malaysia, nor do I have any intentions to raise any issues that will anger certain families. In contrast, I have utmost respects for them. All I want is to dream. All I want is to imagine for one brief moment I am capable of running a Multi-National Company, a company that brings along with it to the whole world a summary of Malaysia's achievements. All I want is to close my eyes and imagine what would I do if I was the boss of Proton.

I was a proud owner of a Proton. My household owned a total of 3 Proton cars, and even though we have had to pain-stakingly deal with issues of power windows and Milo-tin bodies and parts that just come off whenever they feel like, most of us can agree that the up-to-300%-tax levied on imports ensured every household a chance at owning a national car, and having a sentimental story or two to share.

In this post I will not regard Proton as an automobile company because of my limited knowledge in the industry, rather a company in distress and in dire need of reformation. Here's a little insight on my plans:

The Structure

When a company is trying to survive for over 25 years, it's apparent that there is something wrong with its administration, the company structure. This is what we need to address foremost before anything else.

At the core of a successful organization is an efficient and effective system. Efficient that it does not contain any unnecessary parts that will only slow the company down. Effective that after strip-downs it will perform better than before. Think of it as a Cayman R and a stock Cayman. The R is more efficient and more effective than the stock. Because it has a little more here and a lot less there.

Then we believe that all these while Proton never had a Mission Objective and Motto besides 'Let it Be Known That Malaysia Make Cars!' set some 28 years ago. Ever since then it has always been 'Let's Not Die On Me Now!' Well we need to change that. We need a proper direction now, actually we needed one 15 years ago.

Car companies have a passion. Some thrive on their knowledge in performance, others on their practicality and reliability. Some work to optimize their fixed costs by using similar parts on almost all models, in order to reduce costs on maintenance while not compromising on performance.

You see performance and reliability is usually at both ends of one line, whereby you'd usually either have more of one or the other. The only way for space-age technology to become cheap is when production increases to a point where the fixed cost is insignificant. Brands like Peugeot and Volkswagen thrive on this ideology. They build an expensive to maintain technology, plant them on all of their upcoming models over the next 6 years, then build enough market in the world to compete with each other in terms of supply and demand, and ultimately bring the price down dramatically.

Toyota brags their method to maintain a lean organization is through efficient management, JIT. Honda gives you sports performance in even their most luxurious cars. Mazda sells you design art alongside flawless handling, allowing you to fully maximize all given horse powers.

So what will Proton be? We know we have Lotus DNA in all our cars. Heck we managed to make the Inspira handle way better than the fellas at Mitsubishi could. Okay that's just me in denial. Maybe they just kept their skills for the EVOs. We also have super crappy, VTEC-Wannabe Campros that tend to lose so much power over the years it will not be able to move before it hits 10 years old.Then there's the issue of us owning such an expensive blueprint: the latest Lancer. But let's not rant about the past, and focus on the future.

Positioning
The most vital part of knowing what to make is to know who to make it for, and to know who else makes them for these people, and to know who are the better ones at making them. Right now Proton is sadly at the Uber Crap range in all automobile Hall of Fame. We have to change this, by having a direction. 

1. Pricing
AFTA needs to be implemented, and this means there will no longer be any protection. We need to bring our car prices down further while dramatically increasing quality. The only way to do this is through Economies of Scale: for it to sell in all corners of the world to reduce fixed cost. Work with the most competitive suppliers to reduce marginal costs. Ultimately a Persona needs to be as good as a Kia Forte, at RM 25,000 a piece.

2. Find a Market
Competitors equal market. Market equal opportunity. We must place ourselves with a competitor. I say we try to cope with Kia and Hyundai. For starters everything will need to be competitive, from design to technology, from supply chain to pricing. We must be in all countries these companies are in. We must breathe down their necks and occasionally scare them with our wits.

3. Find a Mentor
All companies have some other company they've always wanted to be or beat. Proton needs one of that. Maybe we try assessing Mazda, but only in terms of company ideology. Mazda is one of the few companies still building cars out of passion and not just money. The idea here is to absorb from Mazda design and technology know-how, and their luxury.

4. Fix All Flaws
Before we move forward and compete with the giants, we first need to open up all the closets and remove all skeletons. This includes bucking up on quality control and eradicating the power windows problem. We also need to move our company out of the budget mindset and stop making cheap cars. We need to phase out all old models and not try to milk them until they dry up. Only after all these are cleared up can be actually begin to stand up and fight.

5. Originality
An ugly car is prettier than somebody else's car. Not only did Proton thrived off the old Lancer and Mirage designs, they now bought another Lancer. And this time they didn't even spend half a thought on redesigning it to look original. It is very embarrassing to see that even after so many years being in the industry one can't even come up with the most basic requirements of a car maker: an original car.

6. Safety Standards
From now on all Proton cars will have a 5-Star NCAP rating, along with basic equipment like the ABS, SRS, EBD, CVT and tC. These are the most basic a car maker can provide for its consumers, and we shall not deprive our consumers of them.

7. Stay Competitive
Give the people what everyone else is giving: at the moment pedal shifts, 6-speed boxes, efficient engines and luxury. Then stay competitive by at least matching everything in terms of technology and luxury with competitors.

7. No More Stupid Spending
Seriously like all companies, we have limited resources to work with. We should focus on more pressing matters and stop chasing after our personal goals. Spend wisely and in areas that actually need the money. Lotus is still a stupid buy, simply because Proton hasn't even tried to extract half of what Lotus is capable of.


Next round I will be discussing issues of company direction, laying out all available resources and planning the next move with them. Then we will also be looking into the finalized ranges Proton will be making, and how we can comfortably enter new market and immediately stay competitive. Don't worry, this time the next issue will most definitely be posted next week. It's already finished, and set it to post sometime next week. There won't be another failed mini series here.

Why Shouldn't We Use Plastic Bags?

Source:  http://dikelantan.com/2011/01/01/no-plastic-bags-on-saturday/

Everyone tells everyone not to use plastic bags and to bring their own totes while shopping. But to be honest many of us don't really know why, nor do we question this trendy inconvenience.

Here's why we'd better not be using too many plastic bags:

http://www.haileycityhall.org/HELP/PlasticBagFacts.pdf

So actually the problem is not just with us demanding for these plastic bags, but also how they are being handled after we dispose of them. And, would it be quite stupid that we do not accept plastic bags from supermarkets but then buy rubbish bags to store and dispose of household waste?

Maybe scientists can stop trying to discover the God Particle and find a way to convert energy using plastic bags to power a city. That way there will be good use for them after all.

Media Sabotage

Source: http://www.textually.org/ringtonia/archives/cat_radio_phones.htm

Why do radios always have something bad to say about Malaysians? Why is it that I always get complaints from the radios saying we Malaysians are not considerate, rude on the roads, uneducated, over educated, and so on? If everything we do is so wrong, then what constitutes as a good Malaysian?

Here are few of the things I hear over and over again regarding the problems we as Malaysians are to ourselves and others. And my points turn to possible reasons as to why we behave as such

We are bad drivers. 
I love how this topic will send your else-placid mind into a sudden frenzy. Every day we encounter the most unusual of drivers, like nobody is more educated and more civilized than you, and nobody knows decent common sense like you do. And what happens next? You do the exact same because 'since everyone else are doing it why can't I?' 


Here are some reasons why we have so many bad and rude drivers in town. Rude drivers actually hate driving. They dread the moments when they have to drive to and from work every day, but they do it because they're not given options. Once they get on board, they want to get home as soon as possible. That is why they appear rude. Fact is, they're more often in a panic because they only see chaos in traffic congestions and that makes them very uneasy. Do they have a choice of taking the public transportation (kindly refer to my previous post titled Rapid Decline)? 


Other reasons include extremely irritating weather, bad traffic and trees that love to grow right in front of road signs. 


Malaysian Standard Timing?
Most of the events that require attendance on time must be done at 7:30pm for some reason, in the middle of rush hour. How do you expect someone to leave office at 6, go home, look good for your event and reach on time?


Then there's a problem with two traffic lights that can never synchronize with each other, making it impossible to traverse a road with 8 lights without stopping at all 8 lights. And also highways that are always built in Ring formats (eg: Outter Ring Road, Middle Ring Road, Inner Ring Road, KESAS, LDP) which means people will have to make big circles around so many townships when traveling. 


What is worst, when you define this constant lateness so officially you allow everyone to think that it is okay to be late all the time. Standard mah! 


Double Parking
Most developments are supposed to have a balanced ratio between number of shops/houses and number of parking lots. Developers see shops/houses as money and parking lots as waste of money. So they negligently under-provide parking, which will also increase its value when they wanna sell out the parking facilities since lack of supply increases demand and therefore price to attain this commodity. Then we have the crappiest of public transport system in the known world.


Some of you guys can wait until the traffic is not so bad to do your shopping and banking. For the rest of us, we don't get much choice, so we double park. 


Our Bad Ethics?
Seriously, have you been To China? India? Indonesia? What kind of bad ethics do we have that even the 'civilized and supreme' whites don't? We drive in the emergency lane and get it clogged up which ultimately prevents Ambulances from reaching the people who are causing the traffic jam in the first place? It happens in the most 'white' of places too.


I am not being racist here, but we have to stop worshiping the westerners and think they will not steal, kill, rob, rape, litter, spit in public and drive like complete assholes, because they do! In fact they do them more professionally than most of us. 


Know Our Festivals?
I am Chinese, suppose to be a Buddhist, and I don't even know how many birthdays Guan Yin has in a year. Seriously, not knowing about festivals celebrated by other ethnic people does not make us any less Malaysian. If you like to play the Blame Game, point fingers to the education system. I believe it is crucial that all of these should be properly taught in schools, if you think it more important than Hang Tuah Lima Sekawan.  


And if you haven't noticed, we have a tonne too many holidays a year. I say this because I think holidays are detrimental to the efficiency of the economy, and our economy runs at snail speed mostly. There is a history behind Hari Gawai and Wesak Day and I bet a lot of us have forgotten, if we were ever even educated in them. And do you know Deepavali is not the Tamil New Year? 


And in case you don't know, there are 16 festivals that Malaysians celebrate nationally. I can't even remember 16 phone numbers in my Contacts list. 



Only Talk About Food?  
Why can't we talk about other things? Why must we introduce ourselves as the Food People? Why can't we talk about beaches and mountains and Proton Colliders (not associated to the car maker whatsoever) and Derivatives of DYs and DXs? Of movements of the tectonic plates, and bonds and swaps and futures? I don't remember ever saying Hi to a friend and asking if he/she has eaten, unless I was hungry and wanted company.  



 Snobbish Society
Why don't we help others in need? Why don't we stop at the side of the roads and help a fellow Malaysian in need of a tyre change? Why don't we talk to each other when waiting in line in banks? Why do some of us older Malaysian try to cut queue whenever possible in banks? 


Because most of the time the people in need are out to scam and rob us out of desperation, we have too much worry in our heads and have no mood to engage in conversations with strangers, and most banks don't have special lanes for Senior Citizens despite advertisements. 


Are we all also racist?
As far as I know racism in this country has always been sparked by certain people to keep the people fighting with each other while they get what they want: power and money. We are beyond tolerance; we celebrate each other's festivals, adopt children of different ethnicity, work in multi-ethnic companies, and respect each other's beliefs very well. No problems.  



What actually makes us Malaysians?

Color? Race? Religion?


Or the fact that we are all born in the same country, speak the same rojak language, and eat various versions of food we don't remember its origin? Who else in the world would know what Gostan meant? Can't we be Malaysian and have annoying fake Australian accents? Can't we be Malaysian and not know how to be early for appointments?  


  We are a globalised society, and our involvement in the world can not be underestimated. I would really appreciate that radio stations, in their feeble attempt to promote this mythical creature known as 1Malaysia, at least associate us with a little more pride. The world can tune in to our radio stations. Remember that when you insult and embarrass your fellow country-people.


By judging ourselves so quickly and negatively, we show the world we are a very shallow society and we have too much hate for each other. Let this end shall we.

The Failure

Many of us spend our lives trying to keep up with expectations. Expectations set by ourselves, and expectations given to us by those around. With expectations come failure. These are my list of failures for as long as I can remember.

I failed to cause complications during birth. The labor took so long the doctor had to have me pulled out with a clamp to the head.

I failed to keep from crying out loud in restaurants and during my first flight. I know I was very young back then, but some babies don't seem to have problem keeping their mouth shut.

I failed to look at my first day at the kindergarten with positivity, unlike my brother. It says a lot about a person, I was told. And I was constantly reminded of this and many other shortcomings compared to my brother.

I failed to finish my food at the same pace as the rest of the world. There is a set time one is require to finish all his food, and this cannot be changed.

I failed to be able to understand Math and recite the multiplication tables without pausing every now and then.

I failed to be able to talk efforlessly like everyone else.

I failed to come home with straight As on my report card. Keeping it all blue was itself a giant task.

I failed to find myself useful in any form of sports, like every physically active son would. I couldn't run, I couldn't jump, I couldn't handle the handball. I couldn't even hop in a sack.

I failed to take criticism well. I constantly review everything I did, and told myself to never repeat again when I did something wrong. And I would be pretty hard on myself. So when other people told me the same thing, I had problem handling the stress.

I failed to keep a cool head at all times. I tend to overreact to situations, good or bad. I'd then find those reactions very very embarrasing.

I failed to lead and inspire anyone.

I failed to find the correct group of friends who'd stay in libraries and study, and talk about Sengir Vampires and why Neutrons don't have to pay for their drinks in bars.

I failed to start smoking, I failed to not teach people how to smoke, I failed to stop my brother from smoking.

I failed to keep the family in one piece. I failed to keep the both of them from constantly fighting and throwing chairs and fists at each other. I failed to step up and yell at the both of them when I could.

I failed to live up to my family's tradition. I can't read and write, and I can't speak the two most important dialects of my ancestors. Those that I can speak are 'pasar' standard.

I failed to remember all the fishing knots and practices. I failed to remember how to unhook fishes. I failed to remember how to be safe when fishing. Even after years of fishing, I failed at everything.

I failed at not losing anything. My house keys, my dad's watch, my house keys, my handphone, pens, pencils, bags, books.

I failed at not crashing anything into everything. My bike into a motorcycle, an SUV along the side of a car, and a car onto a column.

I failed at getting even the most decent set of scores in my exams.

I failed to choose the area in which I wanted to advance my studies. I failed to not waste their savings on my stupidity.

I failed to get a decent self-respecting job that would've paid me good and given me handsome benefits. I failed to understand the importance of being with majority.

I failed to have a decent relationship with any woman without everything falling apart after only months. Every time.

I will fail to give my parents grand children. Partly because there are too many skeletons all around, and I think it's best to have them buried with me.

I will fail to accept critisicm properly because I will always be very hard on myself for fucking things up again and again.

I will fail to succeed in life because I don't always follow through with my plans.

I will fail to understand unconditional love because I don't believe it exists.

I will fail to accept God because there hasn't been anything Godly in this world as far as I know.

I will fail to understand the sanctity of humanity because I think humans are the most barbaric and uncivilized of all races living on Earth.

I will fail to make anyone proud because that would make me hate myself.

I will fail to be the model person who has absolutely no credit card and car loan debts overdue by the months.

I will fail to get a decent self-respecting job that will pay me for doing just what I should.

I will fail to settle.

I will fail to be smart and experienced, because before I become smart enough in an area I move on to something else I'm completely idiot in.

I will fail to live until the age of 75 with 3 kids and 9 grand kids and a loving wife and a big bungalow with a big land and 3 dogs running around the green lawn.

So far I can say I haven't succeeded in anything expected of me. Yes I got into drugs and street gangs too. I stole. But no killings and rapings and robbings. That's not enough for the society. They expect model samaritans with a constant smile on the face and a perfect hair cut. They want ties and suits, they want absolute conformity.

I will fail at that too, conforming for the sake of conforming.

The Rapid Decline

Source: http://www.vincentchow.net/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/lrt.jpg

See, I've got a new template! I know it's still one of those default ones that don't require brains to change. I know how to edit the HTML in Blogger, just too lazy to make things complicated. Hard enough to always have to replace HTML codes for Nuffnang. And I've inserted Share and +1 buttons! Up to date, kan?

On to more pressing matters.

Lately the traffic have been a bitch, worse when it rains during rush hour ( which is nearly everyday now). Worst when it rains during the rush hour of a Friday. We hate getting stuck in our cars for hours. There's no place to pee, our asses are numb, the radio blare rubbish all the time, drivers get cranky and rude as if they're the only ones stuck in the jam, and you see the start of your weekend wither away. You can't smoke because a storm is riding outside, and you get more annoyed with BFM DJs constantly going UHHH AHHH ERRR between every word.

So driving in KL really sucks because on top of the bad traffic jams we also have a severe lack of parking lots in every single shop-office, office building and shopping mall. Developers officially have to adhere to strict guidelines to the amount of parking lots they must provide based on the number of shop/office/retail lot they offer. But with a little stack of cash, that strict guideline can always be altered. So developer pay a lot to build more retail/office/shop lots and less parking spaces, as this makes them more money. There you have it, the developers started it, and we Malaysians did the rest; double and triple-park.

On a different matter all together, MALAYSIA is not pronounced MALAYSSSSSIA, but MalaySHia. If you want to ber-bahasa baku, call it MALAI-SIA. Please don't be smart. If it is in English, then it shall be pronounced in English.


But what are the alternatives? Well we have public transportation! Once (many many years ago) proudly bragged as one of the best public transportation system in South East Asia (no need for references), now drowning in a sea of it's own shit with no chance of survival even with government intervention.

Bus
A long, long time ago there was the legendary Mini Bus. If you have had the luxury of being a customer to this, now mythical creature, pink rocket you'd agree when I say: Take The Mini Bus and You're Guaranteed To Arrive 10 Minutes Early. Always. The Mini Bus were efficient, most efficient Malaysia has ever seen a bus company operate. Why? Because bus drivers and their conductors were given a handsome cut of the day's profits by the operators. This motivated the hardworking lot to keep pushing for time.
Fine the drivers were mad and I remember hanging out of the main door a few times because it was so packed with passengers. And they were not air-conditioned, but that was because at that time all buses were not air-conditioned.

Then they were abolished, torn down, god knows why. The buses were sent to serve in cities in Sabah and Sarawak. I don't know if they're still running around towns there, or if they're as brutal as before. From KL Klang to City Liner and Intrakota, all companies fail, consolidate, and fail again until the government finally stepped in and reclaimed everything under the name of Rapid (insert city name). Why have they been failing? Because they suck. Bus lanes are never effective anywhere in town, and because the buses were always at least half-an-hour late, nobody dare rely their time on these worthless trash.

Taxi
Ah, the cab service in KL. Where shall I begin? They charge you RM 20 to take you from KLCC to Pavilion, they are not well groomed, they smell bad, they dress dirty, they don't comb their hair, they spit like camels, they smoke in the taxis, their taxis are smelly and dirty and filled with fleas, and they never take you anywhere you wanna go because they want to avoid the traffic.
Most of them drive like complete idiots, others don't know their way around town. Some tell you sob stories of their sad families and then ask you for extra money. Some also take the longer route to your destination and try to rob you of as much cents as possible.
And now we have the blue taxis, which are supposed to be more professional. I just see it as different package, same product. Unreliable.

LRT
We have 2 major LRTs in town, both circle the least densely populated parts of the Valley. Not in a good way, because all the land surrounding most stops are filled with houses. No apartments, no empty land for development. To be fair, save a few stops: University, Bangsar and KL Sentral. You can cross between the two lines somewhere in town but you'd have to run across the road under the rain. They breakdown so often it's no longer funny.
That many years ago the Putra Line (now KJ Line) was built to accommodate current demands of that time, so they built a line that could take a 2-coach train at a time (probably not an accurate figure, but you get the point). Today if you're waiting for the train in the morning to get to work, you'll have to let at least 4 trains pass before you can board into one.
The funniest thing is, to get to an LRT station you have to drive. And the LRT people don't provide ample parking lots for customers, causing severe double and triple parking problems all over.

Monorail
By far the most waste-money rail in the history of all waste-money rails in Malaysia. It's expensive, it's always late, it's slow, it's small, and it doesn't go anywhere other LRTs don't also stop.

No I have nothing else to say about this useless rail system.

KTM Komuter
Okay this line is actually quite useful, but that's because it's an actual train transportation system revamped by KTM. I think it was quite a successful project, considering others.

The Problem
The problem is not in bad public transportation management, it's in the unwillingness to improve on them. Why? Proton and Perodua need customers, no? Do you think if our public transportation system is as efficient as Shanghai's we'd bother buying cars? Maybe just us few who actually love driving. Then the LRT stations were built on lands owned by friends of families of some Masonians (pure baseless assumption).

The Paradox
The bigger problem actually lies with us, the operators and the consumers. Taxi drivers don't want to go into traffic-congested parts of the city, so they'd rather lose business. Then they complain they don't have business. Then they say they cut cost by not cutting their hairs, leaving their beards, and showering once every two days. Then they say the meters a causing them to lose money because the cost is higher. Then they charge people a crazy RM20 just to get behind KLCC. Then people don't take their cabs because they smell bad and they con. Then they don't get business.
Then everyone would rather drive, causing traffic jams all over town. And that will prevent taxi drivers from ever wanting to enter those areas for fear of getting stuck in traffic.

Conclusion
Until teleportation gets invented or oil completely runs out before a proper electric car gets invented, don't expect rush hour traffic jams to go away. Don't expect taxi drivers to dress well and smell good. Don't expect the Mini Bus to return.