Referring to Pro Consumer's suggestion that Malaysians buy a house instead of a car, I've not bought a new car all my life and I'm happily free of the burden or having to repay a car loan every month for five, six or seven years.

I uses the car I inherited from my late mother until it became too expensive to maintain and about two years ago, I bought a second-hand Japanese car cash from my friend who migrated to the US where cars are relatively cheap and affordable.

There are so many second-hand car showrooms around in Malaysian today, so why not buy second-hand and avoid being burdened with debt?

However, I wouldn't be surprised if the Barisan Nasional government introduces a 10-year limit roadworthiness life span for all cars like Singapore. This will force us to buy new cars and continue supporting the moribund automotive industry with our blood, sweat and tears.

I always remember how a new 1.3 litre Ford Escort was priced around RM14,000 in 1980 when my pay was RM1,000 per month. A three-year loan would have sufficed to acquire a new car back then.

But then the national car project came along and car prices skyrocketed, while starting wages have only gone up by 80 percent or less.