Bicycles in Perak Required Licenses Since the Japanese Occupation

Since their inception, bicycles were first introduced to the world in 19th-century Europe. Baron Karl von Drais, a civil servant for the Grand Duke of Baden in Germany, is said to be the first individual to invent the bicycle.

Since being introduced to the world, bicycles have evolved rapidly from various perspectives. Design features were refined to provide the best quality for riders. Various aspects of the design were upgraded by other inventors until the bicycle reached the form you see today.

Bicycle invented by Baron Karl von Drais

As we all know, bicycles have had a significant impact on history, shaping culture and benefiting the industrial sector. Do you remember the stories of the Japanese colonial soldiers who moved around on bicycles and were greatly feared by our community in Malaya?

For the information of our loyal orangperak.com readers, during the Japanese occupation of Malaya, they recognized the Malays as indigenous, and Malaya at that time was referred to as "Ma-rai-ee." The Chinese, Indians, and others at that time were considered immigrants by the Japanese military.

Since the Japanese occupation of Malaya in 1941, every bicycle ridden had to be registered, and a special license was issued by them for specific purposes. It may seem like a trivial regulation today, but the use of bicycles at that time was quite rare for the Malay community.

According to the Eypoh Family Fan Club Facebook page, the image below is a bicycle license issued in 1945, dated 24.3.05 according to the Japanese calendar. Based on the Japanese calendar, 2605 corresponds to the year 1945.

Based on the bicycle license image above, the license was issued by the Perak State Police Chief while under the Japanese military administration. From then until around the 1980s, anyone who bought a new bicycle would be issued a license for it. Not much information can be found regarding these bicycle licenses as the practice has been largely forgotten. If you have relevant information and would like to share it with other loyal orangperak.com readers, please comment and share your knowledge.