LACK OF USER-FRIENDLY HOMEGROWN ALTERNATIVE
Malaysia automotive industry analyst Hezeri Samsuri, who is managing editor of automotive news platform Careta Media, told CNA that while developing a homegrown navigation platform is a positive move for Malaysia, any alternative must be fully functional before being publicly championed.
“I downloaded TuJu myself, and it couldn’t even locate Putrajaya,” he noted, referring to Malaysia’s administrative capital.
“The reality is that navigation apps have become an embedded part of daily life for Malaysian motorists and it is pretty difficult to steer people clear from something they are familiar with,” he said.
One of the reasons Waze was popular is because it shares the location of speed cameras and road blocks, he added.
On social media platform Threads, many users have similarly complained of frequent system failures and a lack of user-friendly features.
Malaysian Highway Authority chairperson Hasni Mohammad, however, told Malaysiakini that TuJu was developed primarily to improve services along tolled highways, rather than to compete directly with Waze.
“Perhaps 10 or 15 years from now, yes, we could expand to federal roads, municipal roads and village roads. But for now, the focus is solely on tolled highways,” he said.
A cybersecurity expert noted data privacy risks are not unique to Waze.
“All these applications have the ability to access our location and to remember our routes travelled and our activities. This kind of tracking is not limited to Waze itself. Many other social media platforms apps also have similar tracking capabilities and some are even more intrusive,” said Fong Choong Fook, executive chairman cybersecurity firm LGMS.
Banning Waze in the absence of a reliable replacement may be too hasty, he said.
Anwar has also acknowledged as much, saying on Oct 24 that any further decision on a blanket ban on Waze would be made after assessing whether existing alternatives had sufficient capabilities, Malay Mail reported.
