Vehicle registration plates of Malaysia

Malaysian registration plates are displayed at the front and rear of all private and commercial motorized vehicles in Malaysia, as required by law. The issuing of the license plates is regulated and administered by the Malaysian Road Transport Department (Malay:Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan Malaysia) or JPJ.

Design

Malaysian license plates were derived from early iterations of license plate designs in the United Kingdom, and were first issued after the introduction of motorized vehicles in the early 20th century. All vehicle license plates in Malaysia with the exception of those issued for taxis, vehicle dealers and diplomats have white lettering and numbers on a black background for both front and rear plates, regardless of the vehicle type.

The shape and size as well as the material used for Malaysian license plates may legally vary provided that the colours, layout, and size of the characters adhere to license plate guidelines.^[1]Arial Bold is the preferred typeface, but other readable typefaces may be used depending on the vehicle dealer's or owner's preference. Early Malaysian license plates were largely made of pressed metal, but were succeeded by plastic plates and characters in the 1970s.

Current Format

All Peninsular Malaysian (except Putrajaya and Langkawi) license plates for private and commercial motorized vehicles with the exceptions of those used by taxis, vehicle dealers and diplomatsfollow a SAA NNNN algorithm.^[1][2][3]

·         S - The state or territory prefix. (e.g. : W = Kuala Lumpur, P = Penang)

·         A - The alphabetical sequences. (e.g. : A, B, C ... X, Y)

·         N - The number sequence. (e.g. : 1, 2, 3 ... 9998, 9999)

The exceptions in the algorithm are as follows;

·         There can be no leading zeroes in the number sequence.

·         The alphabets I and O are omitted from the alphabetical sequences due to their similarities with the numbers 1 and 0.

·         The alphabet Z is omitted and reserved for use on Malaysian military vehicles.

The algorithm started with a state prefix and a number sequence which ranged from 1 to 9999. For example, W 1 was the first registration plate of Kuala Lumpur in 1974. Once W 9999 was achieved, an alphabetical sequence was added to the right of the state prefix; WA 1 was the result. When WA 9999 was reached, the number sequence was reset and the alphabetical sequence progressed; WB 1 being the outcome.^[3] After WY 9999 was achieved, a second alphabetical sequence was added to the right of the first alphabetical sequence; WAA 1 being the outcome. When WAY 9999 was reached, the second alphabetical sequence was reset and the first alphabetical sequence progressed; making WBA 1.^[3]

When WYY 9999 is reached in the near future, the algorithm will be altered again to feature the first alphabetical sequence behind the number sequence, resulting in W 1 A.^[4] When W 9999 Y is achieved, the second alphabetical sequence will re-emerge between the state prefix and number sequence, leading to WA 1 A. When WA 9999 Y is met, the first alphabetical sequence will reset and the second alphabetical sequence will advance, giving WB 1 A. When WY 9999 Y is reached, a third new alphabetical sequence will be spliced into the algorithm, between the second alphabetical sequence and number sequence, resulting in WAA 9999 A. The series will end when WYY 9999 Y is reached.^[4]

History of peninsular Malaysian license plates

See also: Vehicle registration plates of Singapore

During the British Malaya era, the P, M and W series of plates, along with the S series, were originally created by the British colonial government for the four Straits Settlements during the early 1900s. P denoted Penang island, M denoted Malacca, W denoted Province Wellesley and S denoted Singapore. The Province Wellesley W series was only issued until 1957, before the territory's integration into the state of Penang. The S series is no longer administered by the Malaysian Road Transport Department following Singapore's secession from Malaysia in 1965. In the years that followed, the Singaporean license plate system differentiated with the inclusion of a fourth, checksum letter and variable colour schemes for the different classes of vehicles.

The current SAA NNNN format has been in use since the formation of the Federation of Malaya in 1948.^[3]