It must hurt Dr Mahathir Mohamad to hear the public clamour for Proton to 'close shop' if it cannot compete in the global market. To think that the national car industry project was his brainchild and that after a span of 20 years - with a lot of government support - has failed to garner public support must be disappointing.

Proton's failure is due to the lack of foresight by their management who seem to not want the government to withdraw its protection. The vendor system for Proton vehicles also needs to be revamped, as the prices paid for their material seem to be on the high side when compared to the overseas market.

In an open economy and with globalisation, Proton needs to tie up with foreign partners to make it viable and profitable and I suppose whether Mahathir likes it or not, Proton will need to sell its shares to other giants in the motor industry in order to survive in the global market.

But all things said, Proton was a mistake and failure just like Perwaja and the other big ticket projects which caused untold billions of ringgit to go down the drain. The public and the taxpayer paid for one man's dreams which turned out to be nightmares in the course of the country's industrialisation.