Well, it seems like Malaysia is getting ready to embrace the flying car hype. Malaysia’s first-ever flying car, which will be driven by local technology, is expected to be unveiled this year. The announcement was made by Datuk Seri Redzuan Md Yusof, Minister of Entrepreneur Development at the Growth Malaysia initiative.

What’s more, the technology is already available, said the minister, and added that the whole operation would be down to speed and implementation. Redzuan said the car would be safe and capable of flying at low altitudes at a reasonable speed.

The project aims to utilise the country’s capabilities in the aerospace, drone, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and automotive sectors. The government also wants to use this project to create an environment that stimulates people to think about new technologies.

“The prototype would cost slightly over RM1 million to build,” Mohd Redzuan said, “We are providing the catalyst and ecosystem to stimulate the people to think beyond what we are capable of doing today.”

“Malaysia has the skill set to excel in all these fields. We need to make full use of it, because the bottom line is we want to be a producing nation,” he said.

However, rather than the joyous reception that a flying car is supposed to bring to the country, Malaysians have been very divided on the matter, with many mocking the project, especially when it comes to the country’s track record of automotive projects.

Previous automotive projects in Malaysia have not always met with great success, with the unimaginative models produced by the national car brand, Proton, to the shoddy workmanship of the cars. This is why many people have come up in arms against the flying car project, dismissing it as another unrealistic and unreliable scheme.

At the negative comments, Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Yusof has responded to the criticism of the project. Mohd Redzuan said that what critics don’t realise is that the country has expertise in various areas, which he claimed can potentially contribute to national development.

“We do not realise that our people have plenty of expertise. If we look at today’s global indexes, some of the individuals involved in industries using space-age technologies are young Malaysians. It is not easy to breed the spirit of entrepreneurship in our youth, but plenty of them have expertise that can help.” he said.

Mohd Redzuan also gave an example of Malaysians overseas who have become successful and can contribute to the flying car project.

“In Japan, there is a group of Malaysians who produce the designs locally and export them to Japan for use in the construction of aircraft. We don’t know it, but aircraft interiors are designed by Malaysians themselves.”

What do you think about Malaysia’s flying car project? Do you think it’s a yay or nay? Leave a comment below!

Malaysia Is Launching Its First Flying Car Prototype!