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Malaysians are going crazy for new number plates beginning with "WWW" that will be released next month and which are meant only for vehicles registered in Kuala Lumpur.
Car broker Kathy Kwan said she has already received "WWW" booking instructions from several customers.
"This kind of registration number is pricey," she said. "For example, the WWW 88 registration number can fetch up to RM30,000 (S$12,500)."
Though bookings for "WWW" registration numbers will start officially only on April30, many people have already sent in their bids.
The letters are popular because they are the abbreviation for the World Wide Web, the technology that has become synonymous with the Internet.
Even those from other states are interested in buying the Kuala Lumpur number plates. Insurance agent Woo Tick Foon, 50, wants a "WWW" number plate even though he is from Tanjung Malim in Perak.
"The number will be special because you can get it only once in a lifetime," he said. Mr Woo said he is not particular about the digits that follow "WWW" as the letters are more important.
Advertising strategist Wong Weng Wah, 27, has an even better reason to bid for a plate: WWW are the initials of his name.
"My family and friends will be very impressed if I get the registration number," he said.
The Road Transport Department has said it collects an average of RM170 million annually from the sale of vehicle-registration numbers.
It collected RM180 million last year from such sales, up from about RM160 million in 2010. There are four categories of registration numbers: premium, attractive, popular and running.
Premium numbers are those from 1 to 10, while attractive numbers include numbers like 33 and 999.
Examples of popular numbers are 700, 2929 and 8998. All other numbers are categorised as running numbers.
The Transport Ministry has been swamped with phone calls from people asking about the "WWW" number plates, sources in the ministry said.
They said the nominal fee for getting such a number plate is RM360, but added that the price is expected to soar.
The highest bid on record for a vehicle-registration number - MCA1, for a car registered in Malacca - is RM300,100. It was made by a Johor Baru-based company in 2010.
 
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