Why Indonesia and Malaysia Use the Bilingual 'Berhenti Stop Sign' on Public Roads

Everything you need to know about Why Indonesia and Malaysia Use the Bilingual 'Berhenti Stop Sign' on Public Roads, featuring critical updates.

International treaties set the boundaries for how countries adapt local languages to regulatory signs. The benchmark document remains the United Nations 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, specifically Section B, Paragraph 2 (Sign B, 2a).

The convention specifies that the stop sign must feature a red background with a white border, structured either as an octagon or a circle enclosing an inverted red triangle. Crucially, Article 5 and Annex 1 allow contracting parties to print the word "STOP" in English or in the national language of the respective territory.

While Western European states settled on the untranslated word "STOP" to assist cross-border continental trucking, Southeast Asian jurisdictions applied the treaty’s localization allowances differently:

• Chose domestic primacy. JKR standards designated BERHENTI on standard 600mm and 900mm octagonal blanks, adding secondary English subtitles only along designated international corridors, major airports, and tourist gateways.
• Balanced national decrees with international maritime trade needs. Indonesia’s Ministry of Transportation (Kementerian Perhubungan) historically prioritized the international "STOP" text under ministerial regulation PM 13/2014, while regional jurisdictions, port facilities, and older municipal networks retained BERHENTI or bilingual configurations.
• Cross-Border Harmonization: As part of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on the Facilitation of Goods in Transit (AFAFGIT), transport officials standardized sign shapes, reflective sheeting, and legibility distances so cross-border haulers could read sign shapes even before deciphering regional text.

The shape conveys the core instruction. The text provides regional legal legitimacy.