Frustrated Tuju User Comes Up With Free, Working Alternative, Called ‘Lapan’

A Malaysian who found Tuju to be broken upon release decided to make a navigation app of his own called ‘Lapan’, and it appears to be more functional.

The highlight of the week in Malaysia was Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement that civil servants were being banned from using Waze, as it was being viewed as a security risk due to its links to Israel. A locally-developed alternative, Tuju, was encouraged for adoption. However, almost everyone but the Prime Minister (who probably doesn’t even drive himself these days) immediately understood that Tuju just doesn’t work.

Many Malaysians were quick to complain, but one Alan Chung has turned his frustration into a solution. He created a browser-based navigation system that, by nature, doesn’t even require an app download. It supports 2D and 3D map views and it doesn’t even require user registration, so your data is relatively anonymous and safe. He claims to have tested it out himself, though some comments on his original post on Paul Tan’s Automotive/Car Discussion FB Group indicate that some locations are missing.

The navigation software/app is called Lapan Malaysia and is called that because, well, what comes after Tujuh but Lapan. Lapan gives a Suggested Route and an Alternative Route, with the Suggested Route supporting Live Traffic from TomTom. It also has a Toll Calculator, but this seems to be a manual tool that requires the user to input which tolls they expect to enter and exit from.

We’re not sure how long this project will be kept live. Perhaps the Prime Minister will be interested in sending some government funding to this bootstrapper. Or perhaps this will all simmer down and Malaysian civil servants will go back to using Waze this time next month. Even if this Lapan project was all vibe coded, it shows that the same project in the right hands can go much further.