I agree with LCH on letting Proton go. As a long suffering car user forced to put up with artificially high car prices, I had thought that my predicament - which I believed is shared by many Malaysians - would end with the introduction of the Asian Free Trade Area (Afta).

I thought that car prices would come down to reasonable levels for all makes and models, but, of course, was I wrong. Through some almost zero-sum moves, the bottom-line has remained unchanged and the spirit of Afta was not promoted.

Like LCH, I believe Proton is the stumbling block which is still burdening the average Malaysian. Even if you buy other car makes, you still have to pay more than what a free market can offer.

This will claw into your disposable income and reduce your standard of living. Every car buyer in Malaysia have to work extra years to pay off this 'extra' car tariff. It is also why you see families from the lower income group crammed into tiny cars on the highways.

After so many years of Proton experiment, it is obvious that it has failed. Just let it go. Nobody will notice. Why, the people will even thank you for it.