Many eyes rolled when one Malaysia minister recently said that the government will be launching a flying car.
The unexpected report caused much criticism and a tongue-lashing in a nation which has been mocked many times when it comes to developing its own vehicles.
Redzuan Yusof, Malaysia’s entrepreneur development minister, said the vehicle’s prototype employing local technology, will be launched later this year.
Without giving too many details about the project, Yusof noted the product cost for the vehicle will be around RM1 million (US$245,000) to create. The car is expected to fly at low altitudes.
The country’s early car project attempts have always been a failure. Malaysia began developing the Proton line of cars since the 1980s, but these have been lambasted for poor craftsmanship, and never really took off.
For most Malaysians, the flying car project was simply a crazy proposal suggested by shallow-minded officials.
One commenter cited online, “Words fail me. I have never read so much stupidity in my life.”
Aman Shah, a Facebook user, urged the government to give more time in resolving the current public transport issues first instead of developing a flying car.
Globally, there have been attempts to initiate the development of flying vehicles. One was the Transition created by Terrafugia, a US company and Slovakia’s AeroMobil.
Both nations have been spending years in perfecting the car development. A huge amount of money is being spent on the flying automotive and many are waiting for it to go on sale.
Critics are skeptical on the capacity of Malaysia to develop a flying vehicle considering the country’s car sector has yet to resolve some ongoing issues.
In another Malaysian online comment, it says the country cannot even produce good hybrid and electric cars and sell them at a low price, what more flying cars. “What a joke.”
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who in the past championed Proton, has cited Malaysia’s plans for developing a new national car project, which received much opposition.