By Farahdiba Abdullah
The ‘flying car’ seems to be a buzzword in the parliament this year. Developing the first flying car using local technology is aligned with the Idea of Vision 2020 to achieve industrialized nation. According to the Malaysia’s Minister of Entrepreneur Development, Datuk Seri Redzuan Mat Yusof, the public will see the improvement of existing transportation mode by creating new technology for air vehicle. He promoted that project by saying the travel time from Kuala Lumpur to Penang just one hour instead of four hours by road. Besides that, the government initiative to facilitate growth of technology in the aeronautical industry.
Berita Harian (2019) reported that the latest prototype identified was EHang 216, a passenger drone made by a China company. However, with new flashy technology alone, the challenges of urban mobility will not be solved. The reasons are:
Before the government can deploy flying vehicles on a large scale, they must fully address the current technology needs by our citizen. Moreover, the question remains about the principal aviation regulators in Malaysia would approve such aircraft to be tested open to the public.
The explanation provided by the Minister is still not clear, how the flying car will deliver people’s well-being and solve our socio-economic problems. We need to put the right policies in the right place to implement digital life at the right time. Flying cars are not a big issue that is necessary to discuss further as they will come eventually and possibly come with other technology when our country has healthy ecosystem.