Etc...

It was either that or bonds

Let's say you have – oh – $54,300 to invest. What would you do with it? Buy gold? A country club membership? Perhaps a classic antique car? Well, if you were a certain businessman in Malaysia, choice No. 3 comes closest. Tan (the only part of his name mentioned in a report in the Star, one of the nation's leading newspapers) considered his options and decided to bid the cash on ... a vanity license plate. Not only was his quest successful, but it also has set a record, according to the government's Road Transport Department. Tan is a common name among the Chinese minority in the Southeast Asian nation, so our guy could have had lots of competition for the object of his desire, since one must acquire such a prize via auction. Also, the first digit or letter of a license indicates the state in which it was issued. Happily for Tan, there is a Terengganu State. So even though he's not from there, he'll be able to cruise around in a vehicle bearing his TAN plate, which is as prestigious as government policy allows. Personalized plates of the sort that are issued by many states in the US are not available in Malaysia. Oh, the previous record for a license plate there: $45,050.