The minister, who allowed an NGO to auction the 'Patriot' car registration vanity plates, has effectively put patriotism on his "backside", said Umno's Kempas state assemblyperson Tengku Putra Haron Aminurrashid.

He was referring to the lucrative contract granted to Yayasan Patriot Negara Malaysia (YPNM) to auction the number plates, with 'Patriot 1' now going for up to RM1.3 million.

"The minister in charge of approving it is also responsible for putting 'patriotism' on his backside.

"Coincidentally, it is said when they applied for it, the acting minister was the same person who was apologetic after being under pressure for kissing the traditional Malay dagger called the keris.

"It figures," he said in a blog posting, which coincidentally carries the name 'The Patriot'.

Even though he did not mention names, Tengku Putra ( photo ) appeared to be taking aim at both Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai and former acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein but did not specifically name them.

The proposal to auction the 'Patriot' plates was first proposed to Hishammuddin and subsequently approved by Liow.

"The application should have been shot down upon presentation," said Tengku Putra, questioning how the proposal by a private entity could have been approved.

"Did the approving minister present this to the Cabinet for discussion considering the word ‘patriot’ carries a lot of meaning relating to King and country?" he asked.

Scrap the auction rights

Tengku Putra urged Putrajaya to scrap the auction rights given to YPNM.

"The government should disallow this act of profiteering in the name of all patriots and cancel this approval for the love of this nation.

"Show us that you are true patriots," he said.

Malaysiakini in a special report on Tuesday had highlighted that the YPNM committee comprised politically-linked individuals, with at least three of them having the same paternal name.

The majority of the committee members were also executives in the Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM), which controversially called for a boycott of Chinese businesses that were supportive of the opposition.

YPNM said it expected to earn between RM10 million and RM15 million through the auction, and the proceeds would be used to promote "patriotism".