It looks like there are only two people who, on record, believe in Proton. One is its adviser Tun Mahathir Mohamad and the other is its chief executive officer , Tengku Mahaleel Ariff.

The rest of the populace have long given up on this project. Even then, the CEO was not the one who started Proton and his 'faith' now seems to be more for job security than as a genuine measure of his confidence in the long-term viability of the company.

One must understand that after he left Shell, he was working for a small company for more than two years before landing this choice job when Tan Sri Yahaya Awang passed away.

As for the Tun, even his confidence may be more due to his guilt for having led the whole nation down this road, which does not seem to have a destination.

So, at the end of the day, who actually and truthfully believes in Proton? I don't.