Proton-Perodua merger, a no go.

Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said yesterday the Government will not force through a merger of both car companies and any solution or proposal needs to be agreed to by both stakeholders.

“We cannot force them to make a decision as there is a long spectrum. At one end is loose cooperation and at the other, a merger, which has yet to be decided,”

We told you so, right from the beginning that a merger between Proton-Perodua can never possibly take off. The mainstream media however, loved to publish whatever headlines that sell, doesn't matter if it makes any sense. Financial houses welcome the prospect for the obvious boost to the stock value under their portfolios, And the two work together to convince the public that something serious is going on. Don't you think that there is an obvious conflict of interest for someone who manages a fund with interest in any particular stocks to issue buy / sell recommendations and predicts share prices?

Intellect is not a forte of our government or even the rest of our cabinet, so they tend to talk first, think later. Mahatir has an amazing capability to think of fancy ideas on the fly, and still has the charisma and influence to actually realize them! Not so sure if that's a good thing in the long run. And the senior management of Proton will have to toe the line.

Common sense, do not underestimate the poverty of common sense in this time and age where information is plentiful. Tell people something often enough, and they will believe it. The story spun by the media and "industry analysts" were so convincing that even some fellow contacts all the way in Japan were almost convinced that something is brewing. Nowadays, I've learned not to believe what I read on the news anymore. Once you learn how the media works, how the business is run, you'll realize that there can never be such a thing as a neutral media organization, or even a neutral motoring publication or neutral motor journalist. Each will steer readers to a particular view, either by their own implicit background that the writer / context that the publication is coming from, or from something as blatant as who funds them or who are their main advertisers. Hence, don't trust what everything you read.

The whole merger-talks on the media - utter waste of everyone's time, not to mention the unnecessary work done by underpaid minions in these companies or financial houses or even the media.