Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar is now the proud owner of the country’s most expensive number plate to date.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke revealed that Sultan Ibrahim had paid RM1.2 million to the government to acquire “FF 1” from the Road Transport Department’s (RTD) special “FF” series.
In a Facebook post today, Loke said he was granted an audience with the southern state ruler to hand over the unique number plate.
“For the record, the payment of RM1.2 million is the highest value ever collected by the government for the registration of a vehicle number plate!
…. Sultan Ibrahim, who owns a lavish car collection, is no stranger to winning bids and paying a hefty amount for highly sought-after number plates.
In 2016, His Majesty bought the “F 1” registration number after making a winning bid of RM836,660 for it. A month later, he splurged another RM989,780 for the “V 1” plate.
Sultan Ibrahim had previously also won the bids for the “W1N” and “WWW1” number plates for RM748,000 and RM520,000 respectively.
It is to be hoped the money gained by the government will be put to good use in return for yet another absurd luxury for a member of Malaysia’s super-consumer elite.
However, those with humbler appetites for ostentation and luxury are likely to be thinking of all the good uses that a million plus ringgit could have been put to to ameliorate the lives of the poverty stricken classes in that state.
Early nurseries and baby milk for poor mothers? Any kind of sustenance for those suffering the worst of the high global food prices would do.
Roads are useful and the oil-rich country has plenty of them to benefit the owners of fleets of cars. However, in Malaysia too many are left behind and it would appear that the minds of those with plenty of cash are not focused on their duties towards those people.