The flying car project received criticism at the AMANAH AGM over the weekend.
There was no response from Entrepreneur and Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Yusof or Pak Wan as he is called in PPBM.
Pak Wan has been rather quiet lately on the flying car project. He is usually vocal and unafraid to express himself. In Cabinet, he is dubbed by an Amanah aide as the Menteri Hal Ehwal Menteri (Minister in charge of other Minister) for spending at least half an hour to criticise other Ministers.
His decisiveness as a businessman may have made him unafraid to state the government position on controversial and delicate matters such as the Lynas plant in Pahang.
Alas! Pak Wan is quiet too on the latest development on anti-Lynas activist suing government. Rocky Bru tied the event with mining of rare earth activity to illegally export to China. It had long been suspected that the motive of the anti-Lynas campaign is to serve China's commercial interest.
When the flying car presented in Parliament, Pak Wan defended the flying car project gallantly against the onslaught from no less than the member from Pasir Salak, Dato Tajuddin Rahman.
This time around, he is silence. When it needed Tun Dr Mahathir to defend the project by admitting the mistake of calling it a flying car when it is actually a drone, it only indicate he is politically in hot soup.
Pak Wan is heard to be politically ambitous. At one time, he had ambition to run for PPBM Deputy President and in the height of tension between Mahathir and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, he even told friends of his interest to take on Muhyiddin. It is not quite believable because the gossips is that before directly getting involved in politics, Pak Wan was Muhyiddin's business proxy.
So what is holding back this gung-ho businessmen turned politician and now full Minister in such a short time?
It is not likely because he could not deliver the flying car by October as promised. November is not too late to launch it.
The wheels on the drone to justify it being a car is made a laughing stock as coming of a supermarket trolley. That should not shame Pak Wan to silence.
Nevertheless, the cancelled demonstration is certainly embarassing for PH government. It is not so much the loss opportunity to see Pak Wan himself fly the drone and perhaps fly off to Penang in an hour.
But, how could the test run of a government aviation project be disallowed and earlier run to be investigated by government's own aviation authority?
He only made it worse by immediately announcing the launch to be held in the Maldives Island. What for? Holiday trip?
Public scepticism
It turns out that the company Pak Wan secured the drone or flying was reported in 2018 is a China drone company that filed for bankruptcy. Read in the website dedicated to drone, Drone Addict here.
Ehang is the developer of the recently revealed Malaysian flying car. Though the one in picture have no wheels, the UAS Ehang 216 model revealed to Malaysians have "trolley" wheels to qualify as a car.
The public scepticism was the flying car is actually a drone.
Secondly, the RM20 million spent is not for R&D by Malaysians as promised by Pak Wan, but bought from China with modification to attached "trolley" wheels.
Adding to it, the company admitted the money was not spent for R&D but business expansion. It means Pak Wan had cocked up and made the decision to buy the drone from the bankrupt company to meet the deadline.
His earlier claim was it is supposed to be privately funded and involved no use of government money. Aerodyne belongs to someone within Dato Mukhriz's ANSARA network and brother of UZMA owner.
Third, the 216 model have been introduced in Dubai in 2017.
The news report from the Drone Addict website claimed the bankruptcy is not worrying management because it is meant for "procuring more funding for their next steps" which include "mass production and commercialization of their taxi drone line".
In Parliament [view video HERE and HERE], Redzuan was faced with heavy bombardment for the narrow focus of entrepreneurial program on the flying car despite trying hard to defend the project by selling the concept of aero mobility.
His rebuttal to claim opposition as not sufficiently informed will be negated by the latest expose by Sabahkini2 [read HERE].
The company that replace Aerodyne to procure the drone to be displayed as flying car is Eastcap berhad and owned by a questionable character, "Dato Seri" Zakwan Hafiz Ahmad Ansari that is believed to be close to Pak Wan.
The media is reluctant to give further coverage to the expose by Sabahkini2. However, the flying car is already quite an embarasment that a cybertrooper close to PPBM establishment is calling on Pak Wan to quit.
It is not a bad run for this businessman from Melaka. From businesman to Member of Pariament and then full Minister within two three years. Better quit while he is ahead. Otherwise it could have been a by-election for Alor Gajah.