Friday, February 25, 2011

Proton to submit roadmap to the Malaysian government

Proton car company is Malaysian. It has thus far been protected by the government. This is due to end by 2018.
They have been told to give the government their roadmap for the future.
This a portion of the STAR report.

“At the end of the day, we want our automotive industry to remain and be competitive,'' said Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI) chairman Datuk Kamaruddin Ismail in an interview with StarBiz recently.
“We have asked Proton and Perodua to present their competitive roadmaps and from there, we will chart it.”

Post liberalisation, MAI intends to make Malaysia the most choice destination for automobile production in South-East Asia. To accomplish that, the country will be looking in-depth at the skills the auto industry in Malaysia will possess and offer to foreign companies.

I sincerely hope that Proton includes my MUM proposal in roadmap.

The Government is aware of the proposal as I presented it at the ASLI Automotive conference this year. I met the Proton MD personally, I mediated during his presentation, and even got to shake hands with the Proton adviser Dr Mahathir.

Many thanks to the ASLI team for giving me the opportunity.


Last week Motorcycle news reviewed the new Ducati cruiser, the Diavel. The journalist says the product has:
 SIP... Style Innovation and Performance.

These are qualities we should expect from Proton Lotus and MUM.

Here is the video:


Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Regime Change. The world moves on.

Today, I have just completed a new CRB form. Should I be successful in getting MUM off the ground it will be useful. As a board member of Essex Media Workshop I need one any way.
Criminal Record Checks are a necessary requirement if you deal with vulnerable adults or children.
The world is changing. Libya is big news today. My father worked in Libya for many years. Green Square is normally where Colonel Gadaffi held his public executions, or stonings. Today it is a place of public demonstrations, against the regime.
The world is changing.
I sincerely hope for the better.

No news from any Lotus or Proton people regarding my proposal. Sad to say this is taking forever. I made an early version of this proposal in 2002 whilst working for Kevin Elgood and John Robinson in Bukit Jalil.
Suffice to say I was a little ahead of my time!
However, since then Lotus has undergone several regime changes and the world has moved on.
I am confident they will see the light eventually...

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Waiting for Lotus... A story I made up. Anyone want to illustrate it?

I'm still waiting for Lotus to accept my proposal...
During my time in Malaysia, I have had several people want to go into business with me.
One, Sensei Yaacob (Shorinji Kempo) is an illustrator. He asked me to write a children's story.
He wanted to get a good story, and maybe present it to the government for printing, and use in primary schools.

Here is my first attempt:

The Sensei, a wise and learned man addresses his superhero pupils.

Superheroes! Are we ready for an adventure?

Yes Sir!

Whitey is lost in the jungle of ice cream cones and chocolate. We must save him!

(Young superheroes sometimes get lost in the forest of ice cream cones on purpose.)

On planet marzipan children had to be very careful not to wander into chocolate lakes, fizzy drink fountains, and most dangerous of all the ice cream cone forest!

This was a dangerous mission… Even the sensei really liked the ice cream and chocolate forest. When he was younger he had got lost there many times.

However, if they wanted Whitey to keep his superpowers they needed to save him and soon.

After 5 days in the forest most superheroes lost their ability to jump large logs and things.

After 10 days they could hardly walk, and their bottoms started to make loud noises!
Each superhero was special. Some could break ice cream cones with one blow.

Others could turn chocolate into broccoli… which is really healthy, and very good for superheroes.

Whitey was only learning to become a superhero and didn’t understand how dangerous the forest of ice cream cones and chocolate could be.

He sat on a chocolate log and ate all the ice cream he could!

Whitey was making the chocolate log creak and his bottom was making funny noises.

Outside the forest Whitey’s superhero friends prepared to save him.

Once inside the forest the superheroes had to be focused.

They had to save Whitey from the forest. Luckily the sensei had magic powers.

He could turn Whitey into a frog. Frogs hate chocolate and ice cream.
He would get the superheroes to dress up as princesses.

Frogs love princesses!

So that’s what they did. Whitey croaked for joy when he saw them.

Once out of the forest Whitey was kissed by the sensei and he returned to his old self.

Planet marzipan can be a dangerous place for superheroes. It’s a very safe place for frogs though!