The sale of vanity vehicle plates bearing the word "Patriot" by an obscure NGO was approved by Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai, according to his deputy Abdul Aziz Kaprawi.

Aziz claimed that he only found that out from the Road Transport Department (RTD) after the application was approved, according to a Sin Chew Daily report today.

"The project definitely obtained approval from the minister," Aziz ( photo ) said.

However, he refused to comment further.

In the meantime, an RTD officer confirmed that the "Patriot" vehicle plate was approved by the Transport Ministry.

"They submitted the application to us (RTD) and we transferred it to the ministry. But it wasn't approved by us," the officer is quoted as saying in the report.

The officer refused to divulge more details and urged the media to query the ministry instead.

Liow has been keeping mum on the issue.

Reserve price for 'Patriot 1' is RM1 million

The issue has raised eyebrows as the reserve price for "Patriot 1" is RM1 million, making it the most expensive vehicle number plate in Malaysian history.

It was reported that RTD had commissioned Yayasan Patriot Negara Malaysia (YPN) to conduct the auction, with the proceeds to be used by YPN to promote " patriotism ".

YPN made an application for the project when Hishammuddin Hussein was the acting transport minister, but it was only approved after Liow took charge of the ministry.

Yesterday, Penang DAP Socialist Youth wing had lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), urging it to probe irregularities in the sale of the 'Patriot' number plates.