‘This is Sandakan, not S’pore’: Man explains ‘S’ car plate during confrontation over RON95

Sandakan car mistaken for Singapore vehicle as car plate starts with ‘S’

By now, we’ve all heard our fair share of incidents involving Singapore-registered vehicles illegally pumping RON95 petrol in Malaysia.

While most of these incidents are met with condemnation, a recent case proved to be an eye-opening one.

A driver was confronted at a petrol station in Malaysia as his car had the prefix ‘SMC’. He had been pumping RON95 petrol, reported China Press.

A TikTok video documenting the incident has gone viral with over 2,000 shares and three million views.

The driver later clarified that he was driving a vehicle registered in Sandakan, Sabah.

Sandakan vehicle with ‘S’ prefix car plate called out at petrol station

A video showing the incident was uploaded on TikTok earlier this month.

At the start of the clip, the person behind the camera approached a driver who was pumping petrol while gesturing for a petrol kiosk assistant.

As the assistant walks over, the OP accuses the driver of filling his Singapore-registered vehicle with RON95 petrol. The vehicle has a car plate number starting with ‘S’, like most cars from Singapore.

The driver immediately shot back, clarifying that his vehicle was registered in Sandakan, Sabah.

The OP then quickly walked away, seemingly taken aback and embarrassed by the turn of events.

Sabah-registered vehicles have car plates starting with ‘S’

In the comments section of the video, the owner of the car shared that the content was meant to spread awareness.

“Because this has happened to me before,” he said. “Others think I have a Singapore plate when it’s a Sandakan plate.”

Meanwhile, some viewers pointed out key differences between the two.

For example, one commenter noted that Singapore car plates are slightly bigger.

According to Free Malaysia Today, car plates from the state of Sabah begin with the letter ‘S’, similar to those in Singapore.

These are further differentiated by the cities they’re from.

Those from the city of Sandakan, for instance, begin with the letters ‘SS’ or ‘SM’.

Here’s the full list of prefixes that Sabah car plates come with:

• SA — West Coast
• SY — West Coast
• SJ — West Coast
• SB — Beaufort
• SD — Lahad Datu
• SG — Sabah Government
• SMJ — Sabah Government
• SK — Kudat
• SL — Labuan
• SS — Sandakan
• SM — Sandakan
• ST — Tawau
• SW — Tawau
• Su — Keningau

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Featured image adapted from @oppa_6972 on TikTok.