 The registration plate system in Malaysia traces back to the introduction of motor vehicles in the early-1900s in colonial British Malaya, with the introduction by respectable state governments of a basic "S ####" format, where "S" prefix is the state identifier.Because the "S ####" format were not expected to be exhausted for a considerable time, state identifiers were allowed to be represented by one or two letters.Number plates for the Straits Settlements began to be issued in the early-1900s.