Despite Leaks and Vibrations, Prabowo Sticks with Maung

President Prabowo Subianto has stated that he continues to use a domestically produced vehicle as a form of support for national industry, even though the car still has a number of shortcomings that must be gradually refined. The acknowledgement was made by Prabowo during a speech at the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (HIPMI) National Conference in Lampung on Wednesday (10/6). Prabowo stressed that Indonesia must be bold in building industrial self-reliance, including in the automotive sector. According to him, after more than eight decades of independence, Indonesia should have a vehicle produced by the nation’s own children that can serve as a source of national pride. “After 81 years of independence, we must have our own Indonesian-made car. We have started pioneering this; now the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) are already using jeeps made by Indonesian sons and daughters,” said Prabowo, as quoted from the Presidential Secretariat’s YouTube channel. He remarked that the commitment to using domestic products is not only applied within the military. As head of state, he has also chosen to use a nationally produced vehicle, namely the Maung, which is developed by the domestic defence industry. “Your president, your president, me, I now use a car made by the Indonesian people themselves,” he said. Prabowo then shared an experience, delivered in a relaxed tone, regarding the vehicle he uses. As a product that is still relatively newly developed, he noted that there remain several technical deficiencies that need to be rectified. He recounted once falling asleep in the car during heavy rain. When he awoke, he found water entering the vehicle due to a leak. “There was a time when I was sleeping in the car, and suddenly, because it was raining heavily outside, I was asleep, and then ‘tek tek’, I woke up and it turned out it was leaking,” he said, greeted by laughter from the participants. Nevertheless, Prabowo regarded the condition as a normal part of the development process for a new product. He acknowledged he immediately conveyed feedback to the manufacturer so that the vehicle’s quality could be continuously improved. “It’s something new, right, so I sent it back. This is made by Pindad. I told them, ‘Hey Pindad, please reduce the leaks,’” he said. Not only regarding the leakage, Prabowo also shared his experience using the vehicle in mountainous terrain, which still produced quite strong vibrations. However, this did not diminish his desire to continue using the national product. According to him, Indonesian-made vehicles indeed cannot yet be directly compared to global automotive brands that have been developed for decades. However, the refinement process must continue to be supported so that national industry can become more advanced. “Something that is new may not be as good as if I were to use a BMW or Mercedes,” said Prabowo. For this reason, he chose to set an example by continuing to use the domestically produced vehicle despite its remaining shortcomings. According to him, support for national products is part of an effort to build confidence and industrial self-reliance for Indonesia. “Afterwards, we used the car to go up the mountain, ‘gredek, gredek gredek’, but it’s rattly, never mind, for the sake of nationalism I continue to use this car,” he concluded.