Tengku Mahaleel is a disappointment, Proton is a failure.

I am bitterly disappointed to hear Proton CEO Tengku Mahaleel Ariff's recent demands to the prime minister.

For years leading up to the Asean Free Trade Agreement (Afta), he had been confidently reassuring the Malaysian public and company shareholders that Proton will be able to meet the challenges come 2005. But as was recently reported in the press, he has sent a letter to the prime minister demanding that Proton be given another 20 years of continued protection .

Adding insult to injury, he even had the cheek to demand that more taxpayers' money be given to Proton as research and development grant, despite posting a profit of RM3 billion. That is one robbery after another! It is very clear that all this while, he and Proton have been putting on poker faces, only to fold at the last minute.

Where is Malaysia Boleh now? All I see is a car company set to be jeered at by our Asean neighbours. If Tengku Mahaleel has any integrity, he should step down - having not only failed to deliver his promises but also not being honest about it. (But in a country run by thick-skinned politicians, integrity may seem irrelevant).

I will not have Malaysia put an incompetent, shameless two-faced liar at the helm of the national car company. I will not have Proton continue Mahathir's sick subsidy mentality any more. If Pak Lah succumbs to Tengku Mahaleel's demands, I will most certainly never consider voting for Barisan Nasional again.