Special Series Overview

T_S

Tawau registrations with the post-1963 Sabah S suffix

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Key Facts

Issue Date
after 1963
Issuance Range
T + number + S (e.g. T 1659 S)
Rarity
Legacy format (historic Sabah registration)
Transfer Rules
Legacy registration; retention and transfer depend on current JPJ eligibility.

Issuing State

Key Points

  • Old Tawau plates given an S suffix after 1963 (e.g. T 1659 S).
  • The S separated Sabah's T from Terengganu's T.
  • New Tawau registrations took ET, then ST from the early 1980s.

Series Overview

T_S covers Tawau registrations from North Borneo that were given an S suffix after Sabah joined Malaysia in 1963. Tawau's letter was T, the same as Terengganu's, so Sabah added S, for Sabah, after the number of existing plates to keep them apart. English Wikipedia illustrates the format with T 1659 S.

New Tawau registrations took the E prefix instead, as ET, and from the early 1980s Sabah moved to its S-front codes, with ST for Tawau. English Wikipedia notes that old numbers in these obsolete Sabah formats may still be retained on vehicles today.

Sources

Sources checked for the T_S entry.

  1. Vehicle Registration Plates Of Malaysia
    Wikipedia
    Open citation: Vehicle Registration Plates Of Malaysia
  2. Colony Of North Borneo Cnb
    Europlate Blog
    Open citation: Colony Of North Borneo Cnb
  3. 馬來西亞車輛號牌
    Wikipedia
    Open citation: 馬來西亞車輛號牌

Frequently Asked Questions

Is T 1659 S a Terengganu plate?

No. It is an old Tawau registration from Sabah; the S suffix was added after 1963 to separate it from Terengganu's T plates.

Is T_S related to the military T/Z trailers?

No. T/Z marks armed forces trailers; T_S is a historic Sabah civilian format.

For normal state series (V, B, J, etc.), see the Series Index. For broader JPJ plate-index context, visit the Plate Index.

T_S For Sale

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Relevant Special Serieses to this

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K_S

Kudat registrations with the post-1963 Sabah S suffix

K + number + S (e.g. K 314 S)

EJ

Sabah E-prefix code for Jesselton (Kota Kinabalu)

EJ + number, then EJA and EJB (e.g. EJ 2053)

HA-HW

Taxi plates: H for hire plus the state or territory letter

H + state letter + serial (e.g. HWA 1234, HQ 687)

ET

Sabah E-prefix code for Tawau

ET + number, then ETA

EK

Sabah E-prefix code for Kudat

EK + number

H

Malaysia Day 2026 "Harmoni" series, JPJ's last single-letter release

1 - 9999

ES

Sabah E-prefix code for Sandakan

ES + number, then ESA (e.g. ESA 3024)

UN

Cancelled Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) series, announced 2023

UN 1 to UN 9999 (planned; never sold)

W/TP

Trade plates for unregistered vehicles (dealers and workshops)

State letter + number + A or S (Peninsular); W/TP and W/TS (Kuala Lumpur, from 2013)

1D

Sarawak First Division (Kuching) code, before 1991

1D + letter + number (e.g. 1DD 2660)

F

Putrajaya's first F series (F for Federal), 2016

1 - 9999

W

Province Wellesley's code until 1957, then Kuala Lumpur's from 1974 to 2016

W + number (Province Wellesley); W, WA to WY, then W x #### x (Kuala Lumpur)

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