VIP number plates not a good idea

PETALING JAYA: Amid reports that vanity plates with the prefix "VIP" will be up for bidding next year in conjunction with Visit Pahang Year 2017, some quarters have expressed concerns over the matter.
According to the Road Transport Department (RTD), the Pahang government through the Pahang Tourism and Cultural Council will pay RM1 million to the RTD for the exclusive right to sell off the vanity number plates.
A major issue which may arise is the lack of transparency in the bidding process conducted by an organisation other than the RTD for numbers it tenders out.
Chairman of the Centre for Public Policy Studies Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam (pix) said the practice of another organisation conducting the bidding process is not the right principled as government services should not be marketed and commercialised.
"Is this following international best practices?" the former president of Transparency International Malaysia questioned.
Since anyone can bid for the number plates, including gangsters, the police will have a problem distinguishing real VIPs from regular people who aspire to achieve VIP status through the "backdoor", Ramon said.
"These people will be using institutions of state to glorify and perpetuate their own status. Is this a culture we want in our country?" he asked.
He also expressed concern that other states will adapt the same policy and called on the federal government to impose strict limits.
The Federation of Malaysian Consumers' Association (Fomca) vice-president Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman felt that the tendering of these vanity plates should only be carried out by federal government agencies as other organisations may manipulate or misuse the authority given.
When contacted, social activist Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said he needs to verify important information with the RTD before making any comments.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Paul Low, who is in charge of governance and integrity, said the RTD may have its reasons for allowing another organisation to conduct the tender exercise, but declined to comment further.
"I don't know the arrangement between the Pahang state government and the RTD," he said.
Centre for A Better Tomorrow co-president Gan Ping Sieu said he has serious reservations that it is appropriate to allow other organisations to profit from selling these number plates.
"Imagine that we have Rotary 1234, Lions 1234, Perkasa1234, Baitumal1234, MAWAR 1234 , IJN 1234, Tzi Chi 1234, Hindusangam 1234.
"This amounts to the State selling naming rights which would invite controversial ethical and governance arguments," he told theSun.
He added that names bearing common language usage like "patriot" or short form connoting special meaning such as VIP, VVIP, HJ, YDP and YB among others, must not be used.
"It may bring the name to disrepute in some occasions or convey a wrong impression of different social class, over and above the usual vanity demand of vehicle owners," he argued.
Gan also noted that the use of geographical names like the "Putrajaya" number plate will result in selective exclusive use of the name.
Alternatively, if all locality names are allowed to be used, it will create an administrative nightmare for the RTD and law enforcement agencies.