Last night, my driver drove me home, after my whole day’s programme.
At about 7th mile of Old Klang Road, while my car stopped at the traffic light junction, suddenly there was a bang. When I turned my head to look at the back, I saw the driver of the car with his head on the steering wheel, and his car wind screen was cracked. I was wondering whether this guy has been drinking. I was in shock when I called the police. I couldn’t get the inspector at the Balai Petaling, so I called Rakan Cop as well as Balai Brickfields, and, of course, I called the car owner, my friend Kiew Jie. While I was making calls, a few guys rushed over to our cars, and offered their assistance to us. They are car towies and they roam around the city looking for accidents and offering the victims to toll their cars to a workshop and arrange the necessary.
I was a bit reluctant to accept their assistance and I told them that I wanted to wait for the police. They told me that police won’t come to accident site. I said I’ll wait. Then a guy recognised me and he said he is a Rocket supporter. After waiting for about 20 minutes, I finally saw some plain cloth police officers coming. They said they were from IPK KL, they got the news from Rakan Cop. They then advised me to lodge a police report and do the necessary.
The driver who hit my car was a young man. He kept apologising. I asked him angrily whether he was drunk and he said no. He said he was just too tired after working for whole day and he fell asleep while driving. My anger then subsided.
My Proton Perdana Was Sent To Workshop
You know what, I have been facing the problem of Proton Perdana for a few days, the central locking and alarm were completely out. My driver then sent my Proton Perdana for repair in the morning, and my friend Kiew Jie lent me her Cefiro car to use for the day. I felt so guilty to see her car being smashed in that way, I called her and she came immediately. She asked me not to worry about her car as insurance can cover the repair cost.
I regretted sending my Proton Perdana for repairs. I was thinking that if my car was in this accident instead, I then can request for a new car or a better car from the state government. However, when I think deeper, I fear I might be wounded or sandwiched in the car in the accident if I was sitting in a Proton car. So, God has saved me and protected me from more severe injuries then 🙂
Ok, 4D punters can have another look at the numbers. 🙂
Hmm..thank God you are fine…
Always wear seatbelts in car 🙂
Also, buy higher safety rated cars…life’s too precious!!
Our prayers and the lord will always protect you.
Kinda surprise when you wrote “suddenly there was a bang” and the picture of the wreck, but then i saw the logo “Cefiro”..OK. and yup lucky it was not your perdana.
LOL 😀 “Ok, 4D punters can have another look at the numbers – Good one.
YB,
thank GOD you are unhurt. I dread when I think of Karpal.
As for the tired worker, there is a broader issue here. In the West and indeed Singapore, work life balance is an issue. People want more time for themselves and their family. In Malaysia, it seems that it is a badge of honour to pour hours into the office. I knew people who pretended to be busy and stayed well into the night. Why the self punishment? It only shows inefficiency and wastage of resources like electricity, water and fuel.
Bosses like to see their workers breach 1 part of their employment contract – i.e. work hours. Breach other terms I’ll smack you but if you follow the employment letter hours of 8:30am-5:30am I am going to hit you on your work allocation, performance appraisal and, career advancement bonus.
Strangely this concept do not apply to the civil service sector.
If a country is wealthy enough, people then to have more time for themselves look at the Europeans and Australia. It is a myth that you work long hours you are a valued worker.
Why the penchant for self punishment? Malaysians should think what Field Marshall Montogomery’s philosophy – minimal casualty and effort but maximum impact and results.
Luckily is a sai fei loh (cantonese)
If it is a proton maybe you might be hurt
thank of HIM suddenly switched you to better protected vehicle….HE seems to work in strange way
Magnum should ban 1118
Glad to hear only the backside of your friend’s car kena. These days with so many testosteronal twits running around sodomizing each other, it’s inevitable that somebody will come up from behind and make a try for our sexy and sassy MP! 😉
firstly, any accident that you can walk away from, is a “good” accident, and its great that no one was seriously hurt.
but to be fair to proton, i think its factually incorrect to say that you are safer in the nissan, and not so in the perdana.
the perdana, is technically a rebadged mitsubishi eterna, and both the nissan, and eterna(perdana) has passed stringent japanese regulations for sale around the world. How does one decide that the other is a “better protected” vehicle without any statistics or technical information is beyond me.
Even the wira(also a mitsubishi), the other car involved in this accident only shows very minor damage.
Admittedly, these cars are not as safe as the new generation of cars today(the nissan cefiro included), but they were definitely meeting crash regulations of their day and they are definitely not “unsafe”.
I think the comments by BanyakMasukWorkshop is only half correct.
Everybody knows the quality of Proton’s car and this had enforce the perception of negative thinking. Ask any owner of Proton here. It is also unfortunate that Malaysia does not have such stringent crash test perform here where every users can refer to.
It’s true that we need to be factual to prove our point that we are safer using Nissan and not in Perdana? However, can the commenter also prove his point factually with statistic & technical information? Show us here then.
I’d like to see how he can prove that although Mitsubishi Eterna is a similar model that Perdana, almost all the parts are essentially the same. Anyone who have visited Proton’s assembly plants knows what components is built locally. Have we forgotten that imported Proton cars is better than the local ones.
Having said that, there are several crash test being done and there are many type of it depending on the requirements of FMVSS, ECE, Jpn N-Cap, Euro N-cap and etc. Sadly, Proton Impian (Waja), imported version did not perform well in Euro N-cap crash test. I shall leave it to the readers here to do their own research to check the facts out for themselves in order to form a balance conclusion.
Teresa,
Glad that you are unhurt.
In my opinion, thr more important thing to pay attention to is careful driving. Imported cars are more solidly built and therefore can withstand the impact of a collision better than our Proton and Kancil cars. Despite people constantly complain about the poor quality of locally built cars, there have been no efforts made to improve the ‘Milo tin’ image.
Take care
Lucky!
Glad seeing you OK!
Strongly agreed what you mentioned above, you’re lucky enough as driving your friend’s car(C). In believe, (C) is much more guaranteed than (P). However, ridiculous (P) service-&-maintenance$ even higher!
If I/we have alternative, (P) is surely x.my choice!
Tq God, you’re ok!
Wish you all the best!
Good fortune alongside us, PR MPs-YBs!
TQ.
Warmest regards.
thank God you are saved! with the whole saga and theories over the media about Proton Perdana, it was a good thing you were in another car. and also, 4D punters get a field day as well =) now, how are you gonna travel around? maybe this will help to model for our government/transport ministry to see the REAL inconvenience our public go thru with the current city public transportation network. Given a choice of better transportation, who would want drive in city traffic every day? Getting to meetings in Hong Kong/Singapore can be done on time and in style (with office suits and high heels).
First of all, glad nobody is hurt..
But sorry, with all i know about Proton, its a tin can for me.
Just yesterday at a car wash, I saw another proton with an aeroback completely dented at the back, and the driver told me he bang a pole while reversing during a rainy night when the rear windcreen was fogged by raindrops… One thing this model dont have a rear wiper, which is stupid for a modern car.
Well, I drive an old old carburator operated Japanese datsun with a rubber/plastic bumper at front and back. I have been banging some trees while parking, and i still dont worry because my bumper seems intact.
Recently i fitted it with the so-called magnetic fuel saver. I did it half believing it works, but it seems to have a little bit more power. Can anyone else share their experience with this magnetic thing? Is it a mere gimmick or what?
Thanks…
Your last sentence about the 4D punters only shows how in touch you are with the Malaysian public. Kudos and keep up the good work.
Time to upgrade to Camry 🙂
But actually… letting the “call men” do the work is really convenient… 😛
Not sure if it was because YB was skeptical with the “call men”… it looks like you were a wee bit too defensive? 😉
Falling asleep when driving… kind of… scary… 😉
Euthenics, Isn’t it strange that I am asked to provide factual information to support my comments, when you yourself cannot show the same?
The facts are, although the impian(waja) was not a star performer in the ncap tests, it still passed “european crash requirements” enough to be sold in europe. If it did not satisfy the regulators, it will not be allowed to be sold, end of story. besides that the impian was protons first attempt at building its own car unlike the perdana which is a rebadged mitsubishi. It is as good as being a CKD mitsubishi although components are sourced from malaysia. BMW, Mercedes, and countless other japanese makes are also assembled in malaysia, with parts sourced from malaysia supplied by the same vendors that are in existence today because of proton. Proton’s plant in shah alam supplies toyota with steel, pre-cut to the required shapes for their new cars assembled in malaysia from the same steel that goes into protons(http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/news_lite.php?id=284590). does that mean these cars are also unsafe?
There has now been several models of protons sold in europe. in the past, wira, satria, waja, gen2, and more recently, the satria neo, persona. Although malaysia does not have crash tests to evaluate new cars, protons already meet european crash standards that allow them to be sold in europe.
although i do not use a proton today, i’ve owned 2 proton’s in the last 15 years, and they have served me extremely well, with no breakdowns. and I drive over 35,000km a year. sad to say, i actually visit the workshop more today with my european car from germany.
Teresa, glad that you’re OK.
I understand that cars sold here are way below the safety standards of those exported.
The reason is that oversea buyers have governments that REALLY protect their well-being. It is a given that cars made locally will never be of a standard that will be acceptable in those countries, especially the EU and America, if exported as is.
Local cars may be cheaper but you’ll end up paying for it in other ways! So, don’t stint!
Are you a member of AAM? I think that you should. That way, if you have any motoring problems you are assured of having someone to assist you.
Also, don’t ever entrust your car to any of those tow truck guys who miraculously appear on the scene of an accident; you’ll probably end up regreting it.
Are the same safety standards of Proton cars applied in our country and the country of others? We have the imported version and the local version to test it out. Does Malaysia have good safety car standard requirement as the European? This are questions everyone lingers on.
When someone says it must be factually pointed, so the onus is on that person to prove his point which was none.
I provided the avenue for the reader to search those facts. Let’s see, I ask the users to check those bodies whom I quoted who perform the crash test. Ok, let’s get some facts and see if anyone can provide for us all to learn and understand.
1) Is there a Malaysian or international standard of crash test to prove Proton car is safer, can anyone point out where to check the facts, reports, statiscal information so that the people be assured?
2) What are the European crash requirements besides the Euro-Ncap crash test assessment which is an important element?
3) What other Proton cars are being submitted for crash test or safety test besides Impian/Waja in Euro-Ncap crash test?
3) Besides United Kindom, which other European country that Proton had exported?
4) Any facts to point out that imported version of Proton is the same as the local Proton cars?
5) Any facts to show Mitsubishi Eterna is as good as Proton Perdana?
6) Any facts to show what components are assemble in Malaysia for BMW, Mercedes and other Japanase cars that use the same component which are also implemented in Proton cars?
7) Any supporting facts to show maintenance of Proton is lesser than other makes of cars? This would really help for consumers decision in purchasing a car, though.
It is noted that Miyazu (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd was awarded a contract to stamp and supply blank sheets for 20 parts to Toyota Auto Body Malaysia (TABM), to be delivered on the basis of TABM’s pull system four times daily in compliance with TABM’s production cycle. Did it managed to supply to the whole of Toyota Group in the world for Miyazu did aims to be a key and trusted stamping dies and parts supplier for not only TABM but also the Toyota Group globally? Other Miyazu clients are actually Proton, Perodua, Toyota, Mazda and Takao Thailand. That vendor Miyazu (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd is is a collaboration between Proton (51%), Miyazu Seisakusho (Japan) (34%) and Sojitz Corporation (15%). Still, it is a good thing in the hope that some of the parts (not all) resulting from Japan transfer knowledge will be pass on to Proton. It is worth noting that recently, the MITI minister is puzzle over certain component cost as well.
At the end of the day, everyone needs quality assurance back up by facts with studies done to show that indeed it’s up to the standard. Then everyone can be assured. Otherwise, talk to the wind. I like Proton, don’t get me wrong for I have bought the first Proton Saga when it was first launched. Proton certainly need to do more after so long and there are enough stories of it already reported and also pointed out by users of it.
Lastly, check this out at:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/news/2008/01/brand-perceptions/overview/brand-perceptions-top-5.htm
They have also perform another study being done on safest car as well with Toyota, Honda and Subaru came out the top but much of the studies require a paid subscriptions to see those facts. Consumer Reports is very reputable and they do provide valuable information since 1936 from which consumers can count on for their decision on a variety of products.
Happy Surfing…!
To be fair to Nissan Cefiro as well:
Users may refer to a crash test performed by NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) performed on Nissan Maxima (Nissan Cefiro/Teana/Excimo – to look at Cefiro’s history briefly, refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Cefiro).
There are 3 ways to get it the NCAP crash test report. Refer here at: http://www.safercar.gov/portal/site/safercar/menuitem.13dd5c887c7e1358fefe0a2f35a67789/?vgnextoid=9c96c95372935110VgnVCM1000002fd17898RCRD).
If it’s too much of a work, then just go over here to look at the summary which was compiled easily by others at http://www.automotive.com/used-cars/safety/11/nissan/maxima/index.html
Happy research..!
…….I was thinking that if my car was in this accident instead, I THEN CAN REQUEST FOR A NEW CAR OR A BETTER CAR FROM THE STATE GOVERNMENT. However, when I think deeper, I fear I might be wounded or sandwiched in the car in the accident IF I WAS SITTING IN A PROTON ………………..
HON IT THAT A SLIP OF THE TONGUE