Bureaucrats have backed down after issuing a ‘please explain’ letter to a Greek Australian woman whose personalised number plate ‘Kiki’ is the same as a Tagalog word for female genitalia.
According to reports in The Age the New South Wales Roads and Traffic Authority have allowed lawyer Kristin Perry to retain the content of her plates after the case prompted a round of public support.
The authority had previously written to Mrs Perry asking her to explain the plate and threatened to confiscate the number plate if she did not “show cause” within a fortnight. After realising they had not taken a common sense approach the case was dismissed.
The nickname Kiki, given to Mrs Perry before she could even walk, is a term of endearment that Mrs Perry said cemented links with her Greek heritage. The number plates were given to her by her husband, Steven, five years ago – first on a Mini before she upgraded to a Porsche.
“I rang my father last night and said: ‘Do you know you have been calling me vagina all my life?’,” she said.
“He just said ‘What?’ He was appalled.”
When questioned by the Newcastle Herald an RTA spokeswoman said one person had complained that the plates were insulting to the Filipino language so Mrs Perry and another motorist, who also had “Kiki” featured, were issued notices.
Mrs Perry said although some parts of the complaint were “hilarious” it was also “really sad” it had reached a stage where her plates could be taken. The RTA spokeswoman said that “by law, the content of personalised plates must not carry offensive language, religious or sexual content”.