JPJ: BRA number plate not an issue, social media users need to think straight
Jerrica · Feb 9, 2022 04:30 PM
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The Road Transport Department (JPJ) has decided to go ahead and continue bidding for the number plate series BRA despite its ‘sexual’ connotations.
A source from JPJ told Utusan Malaysia that for the time being, the department has not placed any restrictions on the bidding for the particular series of alphabets for vehicle registrations.
As of yet, the BRA series number plate is expected to go on sale when bidding for the BQY series comes to an end around April.
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JPJ first introduced the B series number plate to replace the SL number plate that was previously used for cars registered in Selangor.
While JPJ doesn’t see the combination of letters as an issue, the matter has turned into a controversy amongst social media users because of its association with women’s underwear.
When raised, the JPJ representative replied that “this is just public perception, however on behalf of JPJ, such a combination does not symbolise any specific meaning.”
For example, the previous combination of the BMW number plate series that went on sale in 2014. The series became a huge hit for many parties as it is the same combination of alphabets for the famous luxury brand.
Another example is the alphabet combination JEW in Johor. Certain parties had raised concerns about the combination of alphabets as it refers to the religion Judaism.
Other combinations that can also spell out words and acronyms such as TAX in Terengganu, KFC in Kedah, RM in Perlis, and WWW in the Federal Territory.
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More examples include number plates such as BN in Selangor, DAP in Kelantan, MCA in Melaka as well as PAS, PAN, and PKR in Penang. According to the JPJ rep, many road users were eager to purchase these combinations to show their support for the relevant political parties.
As of yet, JPJ does not have a policy against the combination of letters possibly having negative implications. Unlike our neighbours in Singapore whose Land Transport Authority (LTA) had to ban alphabet combinations from SEA to SEZ due to protests against the SEX series.
There isn’t a time in memory that doesn’t involve staring at cars. After discovering the excitement of watching Schumacher vs Hakkinen, Formula 1 became a major part of life. The love for cars and F1 ultimately led to a job with CAR Magazine. The untimely death of the magazine meant a hiatus from cars at lifestyle women’s magazine Marie Claire before another opportunity came knocking again.
