Bernama reported that Proton has finalised the development of a new model with the latest engine, tuned by Lotus of UK. They are now o­nly waiting for Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to sign it off before commencing production.

I really cannot understand the logic behind having PM to decide o­n everything. He is neither an automobile engineer nor an expert in the car industry - just what kind of approval does Proton need from the PM?

I have this funny feeling that it is again o­ne of those "PM suruh " things, where if anything goes wrong or the company involved has contravened certain laws, there is always this fall back mechanism.

However to be fair to everyone involved, that is how our PM operates, and he has to take responsibility for this culture long embedded in our government and organisations.

I wonder who is going to approve the next model. Pak Lah?