AUGUST 29 ― With our prime minister stubbornly insisting on starting another national car project and various politicians agreeing with him about removing BR1M, it's pretty obvious the poor are being shafted. Again.

It's insidious enough that bodies such as IDEAS with their free market-obsessed, libertarian bent have far too much influence, it is disturbing to hear various politicians parroting lines I would expect from Tories or US Republicans.

There's one thing rich people are good at ― demonising the poor.

It is undying, this classist propaganda that makes out the poor to just not be working hard enough to not be burdens on the virtuous hardworking rich.

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Enough research is out there that proves that the poor do not need to be talked down to; they will not improve their lot by merely working harder ― what they need is money. Give them money.

Instead, our prime minister is trapped in a time warp, thinking that this is still the 80s and that again, like he did, he can somehow bully most Malaysians into “supporting” the national car by making it too expensive for most people to own a foreign vehicle.

A lovely show of hypocrisy when it's public knowledge that many politicians and their families own foreign cars. At least the ones with money do.

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Proton and Perodua cars have not become cars to aspire to; they are cars we are stuck with. Cars Malaysians have no choice, if they earn little, but to buy.

To add insult to injury, too many Malaysians don't actually own their cars. The banks do.

Because our incomes are such that the average middle-class person can't afford to just buy a car with cash without saving up for a few years.

The dream of becoming wealthy with manufacturing high-end vehicles is an old dream, but one that no longer makes sense. Look at South Korea, with its own Hyundai brand, where the locals still dream of owning foreign cars instead.

There are other things we can do with our local talent and many other weak areas that need to be addressed. Our prime minister keeps telling us to look to Japan and yet has not talked about incentives to strengthen our education or develop our research capabilities and capacity.

Producers innovate ― we are, quite simply, not there yet. What can we bring to the automative industry that others have not figured out? Do we have the best minds in automative engineering or production? Do we have a market that can support yet another car?

Leave those dreams in the past, prime minister. This is the 21st century and we already have too many cars. Start thinking about how you will empower the poor and struggling, instead of trying to figure out how you're going to force them to buy more cars.

The nation deserves leadership that looks to the future, instead of one trapped in the dreams of the past. It's time for a Malaysia that's actually baharu instead of a Malaysia Lama with a paintjob.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.