PUTRAJAYA, Aug 29 — The Ministry of Transport announced today that the public can start bidding for a special Merdeka Day series of vehicle registration numbers, with M in the front and back.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the bids will start on August 31 until September 4, and authorities will announce the winning bids on September 5, 2023.
“Bidding will be open at 12.01 on August 31 and are all subject to terms and conditions set by the Road Transport Department (JPJ).
“These two 'M's can mean Malaysia Merdeka or Malaysia Madani, either one. You may also interpret it any way you want,” Loke told reporters at his ministry here.
“Golden numbers are from RM20,000 while the lowest bids at RM300. All successful bids must register their new numbers within 12 months," he added.
Loke said the federal government hopes to earn as much as possible from the bids, saying that the previous special series managed to raise RM30 million.
He displayed numbers like M1M, M888M and M9M in front of the media during the announcement.
“The last one we launched was 'double F' in January, we got RM30 million. This time with M and M some think [it means] 'money matters', also can.
“There are also so many names with double 'Ms' you know who, there are so you may interpret it yourself,” Loke said jokingly.
Former two-term prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is among those who have “MM” as their initials.
In May, Loke had announced that the “FF” series netted a record-high collection of RM34.29 million, with the FF 8 plate topping the chart at RM950,000.
Apart from FF 8, the next most expensive plates were FF 9 (RM911,999), FF 3 (RM639,000) and FF 2 (RM638,000).
