Of Plate and Alphabet

First car in Malaya was brought in to Ipoh, Perak by Mr Eu Tong Sen in 1902, Cars in Perak was first registered as “PK” but was replaced with “A” in 1945 after WW2.

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Prior to 1937, motor vehicles in Perak and Selangor was under the control of respective state Police ; the Chief Inspector in Negeri Sembilan ; and District Officers in Pahang, respectively. Vehicles in Unfederated Malay States were not regulated then.

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The current vehicle license plates is regulated and administered by the Road Transport Department. Each state was assigned with a letter, with ABC 1234 format.

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A = Perak

B = Selangor

C = Pahang

D = Kelantan

J = Johor

K = Kedah

M = Melaka

N = Negeri Sembilan

P = Pulau Pinang

R = Perlis

T = Terengganu

W = Wilayah Persekutuan

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One may see this as random allocation of letters to car registration of Malaysian states, but I see a pattern in there.

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What I see may not be correct, but I am sure it is an interesting story.

From My Eyes

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Well, it was a first come first serve basis.

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Penang first became a British Colony, then Malacca and Singapore followed.  By logic and by right, Penang of course get the ‘P’, Malacca get the ‘M’ and Singapore get the ‘S’. 
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After the top 3 were settled, then came the 4 Federated Malay States. Negeri Sembilan get the ‘N’.  Perak wanted a ‘P’, but it was taken by Penang, so Perak had to go for ‘A’, the first of the alphabet. Selangor too wanted a ‘S’, but Singapore get it first, so Selangor had to settle with a ‘B’. Pahang also can’t stripped Penang of her ‘P’, so she get herself a ‘C’. 

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Lastly, the Unfederated Malay States … Johor was in luck. Nobody owned ‘J’ yet, so she get it without a fight. Terengganu and Kedah too get their ‘T’ and ‘K’ respectively without resistance. Kelantan loss to Kedah maybe because Kedah had an affair with British first. So. Kelantan had to walk away with ‘D’.

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Perlis is for ‘P’, but ‘P’ was already taken by Penang. The next of he alphabet was ‘E’. Somehow Perlis decided not to submit to fate.  She fought for her love, and gets ‘R’ at the end of the day.   Why 'R' ? A mystery forever unanswered.
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Well, my story may lacks of concrete evidence, but it does sound logical, right ? At least it’s a good story !

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A Brief History of British Involvement in Malay States

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1790 Kedah ceded Penang to British East India Company

1824 Holland ceded Malacca to British East India Company

1824 Singapore became a British Colony

1873 Negeri Sembilan accepted British protectorate

1874 Perak accepted British protectorate

1875 Selangor accepted British protectorate

1888 Pahang accepted British protectorate

1885 Johor accepted British protectorate

1909 Siam ceded Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah & Perlis to British