Proton Perdana gets a beating from Malaysians!

When the Proton Perdana first came out at the end of 1994, I think many Malaysians were impressed with the designs, size and status as the first Malaysian made luxury car. It is actually a restyled version of the Mitsubishi Galant in Japan and uses almost the same parts as it's Japan sibling.

My first drive of a Perdana was my friend's mom's car back in Malacca.

Over the years, I have also driven the newer Pedana V6.

Lately, the hottest news around is about the Terengganu state goverment that replaced it's Perdana V6 Executive fleet with 14 Mercedes Benz E200 Kompressor. The state government claims that the cost of running this Malaysian breed vehicles is alarming and some costing more than RM 100k.

From talks with friends and family, the most notable problem is the automatic gearbox. The reason for this is the dramatic accumulation of heat within the gearbox. Over-time, the gearbox loses it's efficiency to change gears accordingly.

Apparently in Japan, the gearbox is fitted with it's own mini-radiator that maintains the temperature of the gearbox from becoming too hot. However, this radiator has been removed from the Perdanas in Malaysia and not forgetting my ex-car, the Wira 1.6. Hence, this would be one of the reasons for the damage in gearboxes in the Perdanas.

A brand new gearbox cost RM 25 k. Reconditioned ones cost RM 2k.

The radiator for the gearbox can be obtained from chop-shops or half-cut shops at around

RM 500 but are rare and you have to modify it to suit your Proton.

One of the reasons, why I sold my old Wira was because of the cost of maintaining it was too high and I guess this is the reason why the Terengganu state government feel the same.

I had to spent lots of money to replace parts which either resolve the problem, temporary resolve the problem or entirely do not resolve the problem. I was so sick of this as I felt it was such a bother that I changed to my current super-economical Myvi 1.3 EZi(I claim that it is economical lah... :P).

From my personal experience that I have shared previously on this blog about the high cost if maintaining my old car:

1. Roof lines accumulate buldges as a result of a certain coat of gum used after few years of use.

2. The bonnet has the same buldge.

3. The automatic gearbox gets cranky and tends to be stubborn at changing at times.

4. High engine-oil consumption. I spent almost RM 1k to fix leaks but the oil loss still persisted.

5. Vibration from engine bay.

6. Water leak on driver side tail end of car due to rust.

7. Rear automatic sunshade spoilt.

8. Master power window spoilt.

9. Boot spring breaks often so need to replace at around RM 80.

With so much talk about replacing the Perdana fleet to Mercedes fleet, some exco members from other states had suggested using the Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry as another alternative to saving cost especially during the current high fuel prices.

My suggestion is why don't the Federal government really consider this and change the Perdana fleet to high-brid cars if indeed that the main reason here is due to the high running cost. We don't have to sell high-brid cars first then only use them as government cars. A small batch can be imported in for our leaders. The Toyota Camry High-brid would be the best option! It would be a good example for other nations to follow suit especially during this time with the global fuel hike and the concern for global warming.

World Youth Day 2008

World Youth Day 2008 is a Roman Catholic youth festival and will take place in Sydney, Australia and the event has already begun this Wednesday and will end this Sunday with mass by Pope Benedict XVI .


About 250 000 people are expected to attend this gathering and half of them are from around the world.


The pope did broadcast a text-message to pilgrims who registered for the event:

"The Holy Spirit gave the Apostles and gives u the power boldly 2 proclaim that Christ is risen! - BXVI."


It is a time for pilgrims to gather and share their stories on how God has touched them and changed their lives.


Let us pray that pilgrims attending this event will be safe amongst the large crowd and find meaning from this event that will not only impact them but also the people that surround them when they return home.


Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd welcoming the pope:

Give them their compensation!

Baby Lai Yok Shan has turned 1 yrs old already. She was the baby that lost her left arm due to a medical error.

"Yok Shan lost her left arm when it turned gangrenous and dropped off after a houseman at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (HTAR) inserted an intravenous needle into a muscle instead of a blood vessel when the premature baby was placed in an incubator." - The Star

The government had initially proposed RM 60 000 as compensation to what had happened to the girls parents. The parents rejected it.

Is that amount acceptable to the loss of a human's full ability to live especially in this IT savvy world where there is an extensive use of computers?

She may have the potential to be a very outstanding person if it weren't for that impairment that has scarred her her whole life when she was actually born like any normal kid. I do not mean to offend people with such disabilies as not outstanding but as most people know the realities of life with a disability is not easy especially on this land.

Is the RM 60 000 sufficient for her to help her throughout her life-time?

That is unless the government will promise to provide non-monetary aid and basic necessities as well like food, shelter, education aid and health aid. Still, the amount is not enough to bare the high cost of living especially with the recent hike in petrol.

The family is tired and fed up that there is no more news about the compensation that they have asked for. Why is this taking so long when our government agencies are so called equipped with state-of- the art equipment and bragging about having staff who are graduates from top local universities?

The kid's parents are deffinitely concerned how they are going to support her, the baby's welfare and the compulsary compensation that they are trully entitled to. This is with consideration that the family are tax payers and adhering to the taxes emposed to them by the government.

This is trully sad to hear how citizens are being mistreated or should I say treated without respect when they are loyal to their king and country.

Where is the confidence level that we citizens should have for the government hospitals that are mushrooming in our country as a result of the governments perception of more talented and more locally trained medical practitioners in our country considering what has happened to this kid?

I hope the government will look into this seriously and rightfully grant the family the compensation that they deserve.

A suggestion would be instead of having more lavish banquets for open-house this year for Hari Raya and Hari Merdeka and God knows what, we should think of our fellow countrymen who are in greater need of help. I am sure that we can sacrifice the extra ketupat and rendang to fill up the stomachs of our already bloated statesmen.

Getting re-accustomed to KL

When I was doing my Industrial Training. I lived in Subang and got used to the life here adjacent to KL and Petaling Jaya.



It is no doubt very fast paced and swamming with people who I can see want a piece of the pie in this money making pot. When it comes to long holidays and festive seasons, they return home to their hometowns like Ipoh and Penang.



Two years in Dell Penang has been great and enough for me. In terms of growing in my career, I feel Penang has little to offer especially in my career in IT. Hence, I have realized that it's KL to expand my career and achieve my goals and with my partner to be.



I have signed up with SAP Malaysia to do a 25 days full-time course where I should obtain my certification in Basis(a major component in SAP). SAP is a Business software that is being purchased and used by big time players in the market from car manufacturers to oil and gas companies.



After I complete my course, I should have a buffer to find for a job. I will need to start at the bottom as I am new to the industry.



When I was in KL registering for the course, these are the pics that I took to remind myself of this place that I will to grow together with:

Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad with the tallest Jalur Gemilang flagpole

Menara KL in the background off Jalan Raja Chulan

KLCC. I MMS this pic to Ruby as I walked out of KL Convention Centre after the registration.