11 Exclusive Number Plates That Are Specially Reserved Or Bought By Drivers In Malaysia
They're called vanity plates.
By John Lim
And others go for special ones that aren't from a particular state, like this one:
These are called vanity plates.
Vanity plates are special number plates that require official approval from the government before being made available to the public. These plates, normally in limited numbers, are sold for a higher cost by the Malaysian Road Transport Department.
1. The BAMbee one
BAMbee (not to be confused with Bambi, the cute deer!), the plate was introduced during the 2000 Thomas and Uber Cup which was held in Kuala Lumpur.
According to this forum thread, the car plate was only made available to members of the BAM (Badminton Association of Malaysia).
2. The SUKOM plate
The SUKOM plate was released by auction during the 1998 Commonwealth Games, which was held in Kuala Lumpur. The SUKOM obviously stands for 'Sukan Komonwel'!
3. 1M4U
The 1M4U (1Malaysia for Youth) plate was introduced to the public back in 2013.
According to Paultan.org, the special series had the usual run of 9,999 numbers, with bookings to be available online through a special website.
Aside from an open bidding for 68 premium registration number, other numbers were sold at a fixed price.
4. PATRIOT in all caps
The number plate series was offered by Yayasan Patriot Negara Malaysia (YPN) as part of its fund-raising drive to promote moderation.
According to the NGO's website, proceeds from the sale of PATRIOT 1 to 9999 is used to carry out programmes and activities that build patriotism. YPN was set up in April 2013.
The plate PATRIOT 1 made headlines when it was sold for RM1.3 million.
5. XI ASEAN
Issued during the 2005 ASEAN Summit, which was held in Kuala Lumpur.
The ASEAN Summit is a semi-annual meeting held by members of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations in relation to the economic and cultural development of Southeast Asian countries.
6. XIII NAM
The XIII Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) took place from 24 to 25 February 2003.
The two-day summit addressed multiple issues pertaining to the countries in the NAM. To commemorate the event, the XIII NAM plate was issued.
When the delegates came over to KL for the summit, cars with the plate were used to ferry them. These cars and plates were then sold to individual buyers for different prices.
7. X OIC (does not stand for 'Oh I see')
The plate was issued in 2003 during the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) Summit, which was held in Kuala Lumpur.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation is an international organisation founded in 1969, consisting of 57 member states with a collective population of over 1.6 billion as of 2008.
8. G1M
G1M stands for Gagasan 1Malaysia and this series of number plates was unveiled by Kelab Explorasi 7 Benua Malaysia (KE7B).
Proceeds from the plate sales were used to fund the club’s trek expeditions to places like Mount Everest and Greenland and also channelled to National Athletes Welfare Foundation, Malaysian Children’s Hope Foundation, and the Poverty Eradication Foundation.
A forum thread on Lowyat revealed that the price for the plate starts from RM2,000.
9. Diplomatic Corps
The registration plates of diplomatic corps in Malaysia are very distinct from other number plate formats in the country. They follow a 1C-2C-DC format and have either white characters on a red background or white characters on a black background.
1C - The first code denotes the nationality.
2C - The second code denotes a rank. (e.g. : 01 = Head of Mission’s Official Car).
DC - The constant suffix which denotes Diplomatic Corps.
This table below will blow your mind a little:
10. Consular Corps
The registration plates of consular corps in Malaysia complement the number plates of the diplomatic corps, as listed above. They follow a 1C-2C-CC format and have white characters on a black background. Leading zeroes and hyphens are also used.
11. United Nations
Registration plates for vehicles registered under the United Nations (UN) in Malaysia use a 1C-2C-UN format. These plates are issued with white characters on a black background or white characters on a red background.
Besides vanity plates, there are also specialised plates that are only made available to the military, taxi, and the royalty
The Malaysian military uses Z as the starting prefix of a licence plate, followed by a second prefix letter to denote the branch of the military.
ZA - ZD: Army
ZL: Navy
ZU: Air Force
Older taxi number plates had previously used normal number plates, but the newer ones have adopted the H prefix, followed by its respective location prefix.
HA: Ipoh, Perak
HB: Klang Valley, Selangor
HC: Kuantan, Pahang
HJ: Johor Bahru, Johor
HM: Melaka
HN: Seremban, Negri Sembilan
HP: Penang
HQK: Kuching, Sarawak
HSA: Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
HW: Kuala Lumpur
The Sultans of Malaysia, Rulers of States and their immediate royalty use unique registration plates
Most of these official number plates have a yellow or white background and bear the official title or crest of the owners, such as TMJ (Tengku Mahkota Johor).