This mix-up from Proton has become a sore spot for Sabahan and Sarawakians on social media.
Proton has courted a bit of controversy lately from the recent launch of its Proton e.MAS EV sub-brand, with it having mistakenly swapped the labelling of Sabah and Sarawak on one of the slides it used during the presentation.
The Malaysian marque has since issued an apology for this mix-up, with the full statement reading as follows:
Proton acknowledges an error in a presentation mislabelling the states of Sabah and Sarawak.
We deeply regret this mistake and understand the sensitivities it has stirred among our fellow Malaysians. Proton holds the unity and diversity of Malaysia in the highest regard, and we are committed to respecting and celebrating all states equally.
We sincerely apologise for any misunderstanding caused and appreciate any feedback from the public.
We will ensure greater care in our future endeavours. Thank you for your understanding and support.
Just for those who are perhaps out of the loop regarding this latest bit of blunder from Proton, this mislabelling of the East Malaysian states first went viral on the Internet from a slide that discussed its public charging infrastructure expansion plans. It is worth mentioning though that this error was actually on at least one other slide as well, as this mislabelled map was also observed when the Malaysian automaker shown on screen its dealer network target for its new EV sub-brand.
Now on one hand, it really is not exactly the best look for Proton to be making such a basic blunder. This is especially when considering that they are supposed our national automaker, after all. Though on the other, there are probably bigger issues that people can (and should) critique Proton for, instead of what is ultimately an inconsequential error on a slide that no one would have paid any attention to.
Funnily enough too, all of this could be avoided if Proton just left the map unlabelled. Such is as if going by the keyboard warriors’ comments regarding this blunder anyway, all Malaysians should know which state is which on the map.
