RACE, religion and registration numbers – that appears to be the new 3R of sensitive topics.
Another so-called “privilege” was highlighted in a post on X by Naratif Rakyat (@NaratifRakyat) which sparked the pertinent question as to who would inherit out-going Economy Minister Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli’s official car since he has stepped down as a cabinet minister (his resignation takes effect on June 17).
It went on to claim that though there was no official bid the “RAR 7” registration plate, it would have cost a pretty penny.
Siapa agaknya bakal mewarisi kereta Rafizi Ramli 7 (RAR7) bila dia letak jawatan menteri nanti?
Bukan main bergaya. Nombor plat pun dah cukup menggambarkan “parti derita” yang dia wakili.
Berdasarkan data yang tersedia, nombor plat RAR 7 tergolong dalam kategori istimewa dan… pic.twitter.com/76OXYouzt4
— Naratif Rakyat 🇲🇾 (@NaratifRakyat) May 27, 2025
The pro-Opposition poster offered a list of somehow similar number plates and how much each of them would have cost, claiming that the Perlis-originated “RAR7” would thus cost between RM300,000 and RM500,000 depending on demand (with the somehow similar “RAY 7” costing RM228,300.)
However, this poster’s thinly veiled criticism at Rafizi and his PKR party was brushed aside. More than few chided the poster for not doing proper research before attacking Rafizi as it has been claimed that ministers can expect get such fancy number plates for free.
One asked where was this poster when disgraced former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak was accused of pocketing large sums of public funds for his own use. Surely that merited the poster’s attention and protestations too, it was insinuated.
It was in this light that the poster’s identity was revealed by some netizens as Lim Sian See a.k.a. Datuk Eric See-To – the former Barisan Nasional (BN) strategic communication deputy director during the Najib administration – who had engaged in an hour-long face-to-face dialogue with Rafizi on the Yang Bakar Menteri podcast on Oct 1, 2024.
Continuing on the theme, another commenter pointed out that unlike Najib, Rafizi did not have “private sponsors” with the comment alluding to both fugitive Low Teak Jho a.k.a. Jho Low and mystery Arab donors.
The hypocrisy of the post was quite rightly highlighted by many netizens who seemed amused that the “RAR7” number plate could be used as ammo against the Madani administration.
It was further underlined that ministers do indeed have the privilege of choosing ONE personalised number. However, it was suggested that the identities of all individuals with such plates be made public.
That this privilege has been in existence for some time was used to further berate the poster for making a mountain out of a total non-issue.
Yes, of course, any and all public expenditure must be accounted for, including such privileges.
But as pointed out, a simple online search would have revealed that ministers were privy to choosing one personalised vehicle registration.
Again, with so many issues for the opposition and its supporters to highlight, couldn’t they do better than this?
For sure, mud-slinging is prevalent in politics. But when a former leader is behind bars for the single biggest corruption scandal in the world, this insinuation of impropriety over a vehicle’s licence plate just reeks of extreme hypocrisy. – May 29, 2025
