Vanity plate for SR650,000 gives Saudi driver bragging rights

A Saudi man believed to be from the Harb tribe paid a whopping SR650,000 ($173,000) for a car number plate BRJ 1111 at a Jeddah Traffic Department auction on Wednesday.
The three Arabic letters apparently refer to the Harb tribe from the center and west of Saudi Arabia. The number 1111 refers to the brand marks (wasm) on the tribe’s camels used to identify ownership.
The man now has the pleasure of displaying this on the front and back of his car — even though the plates could potentially cost more than the vehicle itself.
A video showed a policeman calling for bids. The traffic department had earlier announced the plate numbers that would go on auction. The bidding started at SR500 and ended in a little over 2 minutes.
The Harb tribesmen are proud of their long history, horsemanship, warrior spirit, and ability to endure hardship.
There were other BRJ plates sold for significant sums. The plate BRJ 222 was sold for SR120,000, BRJ 3333 for SR80,000, BRJ 4444 for SR95,000, BRJ 5555 for SR160,000, BRJ 1000 for SR101,000, BRJ 2000 for SR45,000, BRJ 3000 for SR31,000, and BRJ 4000 for SR30,500.
Bloggers on social networks reacted mostly negatively to the news.
Azooz Mazin said: “The winner can now match the car license plate with the camel ID, but it is not worth so much money.”
Naif Al-Nwsr commented: “Camel owners make a lot of money trading camels and taking part in camel beauty pageants. I feel it is a bit extravagant.”
Abdulaziz Al-Jaffar remarked: “It is really sad to have a situation where some people cannot find something to eat while a rich man pays too much money for something of no real value. This will only see us return to tribal competition and we don’t want license plates to be the medium of war.”
Mutairy said: “I would only support this sale if the revenues go to charity like in many other places.”
Munair Sulaiman wrote: “It is really worrying to see the traffic department sponsoring such an activity.”