The Moley Prophet

If anyone of you had not heard about it, Malaysia's Prime Minister has slammed Clarkson for his outrageous acts in destroying a Perodua Kelisa. Although I'm a hard core Top Gear fan, I don't really supported what he did. There are other ways to criticize the car - I would not say it was insulting like many Malaysians think it is - however, tearing and blowing up a car, and much more a brand new one is not something anyone should be proud of.

I've saw some Malaysians complain that it unfair and insulting to Malaysians, and seen many said that the car isn't that bad, neither are Malaysian cars. I can't comment for sure whether the car good or bad. But it is definitely right to say that Malaysian cars are no good. For a period of time, when my Dad's car got in an accident and was sent to the workshop, we had a Proton. The only time when my parents ever drove one. It was so horrible that after a week in it, they quickly requested another car.

The Malaysians went on to say that which car would not break with 1 ton hanging on its bonnet or would not blow up with 4 sticks of dynamite? I think they got the message wrong. Clarkson was not trying to prove that the car could not withstand those tortures. He just wants to destroy the car by torturing it. Anyway, they should have seen the stress the Top Gear team put on an OLD Toyota Hilux. It was crashed driven down a flight of steps, crashed into a tree, thrown into the sea, driven through a wooden shed, had a caravan dropped on it, had a weight which they used to demolish buildings knocked into it, burnt with kerosene, placed on top of a building which was demolished under controlled conditions with dynamites, and all it took were 2 mechanics, some spanners, and WD-40 to repair it to working condition. This, is prove that a car could survive far worse conditions. (If any of you wishes to check out the episode, its Season 3 Episode 5 & 6)

Going on to the comment that cheap cars are limited in many ways. I beg to differ on the statement. As Top Gear had proved, cheap cars could be good. The Toyota Aygo was an example of a cheap and good car. They were designed to be built cheaply as Hamster has said. They were not designed to be built in a way that maximized margins using cheap materials.

Clarkson's comments that Malaysian and Korean car makers had only profit in their mind when they built cars also resulted in many angry comments. The people who commented asked which car maker did not have profit as their first priority? There are. When Ford first built Ford GT, all they had in their minds was to defeat the Italians and bring glory home. When Volkswagen decided to build Phaeton, they wanted to fulfill a dream to build a car no one would dream of. When Volkswagen built the Veyron under Bugatti, they just wanted to prove to the world that such a car is possible, it is not just a dream. When Toyota builds cars, customer satisfaction and quality is of assurance not insurance claims.

It is time that Proton, Perodua and all these Pacific cars wake up their ideas. 

If anyone of you is interested, the video could be found here, Jeremy Clarkson Destroys Perodua Kelisa. I'm not posting it here so you guys could read the comments. Check out the one by pussygalore21 - theres one which called Malaysians racist - I supposed its because of their laws which favors Malays, it's time they rethink about that too.