Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad was not always opposed to foreign entities buying Proton shares, and even mulled a tie-up with Geely himself, it appears.

Social media users, including Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, dredged up old news reports of Mahathir's openness to such ideas in the past.

One article was a June 2014 Nikkei Asian Review piece titled "Mahathir seeks to turn Malaysia's Proton around with Geely's help".

The other, was an Utusan Malaysia article from June 2005 titled "Mahathir: Volkswagen boleh beli saham Proton" (Mahahtir: Volkswagen can buy Proton shares).

Mahathir on Thursday had reacted negatively to news that Geely had acquired a 49.9 percent stake in Proton.

He said "my child is lost. And soon my country", adding that he feared this signaled a great sell-out of Malaysian assets to foreigners...