MalaysiaGIS.com

Source: The Star

The two avid GPS unit hobbyists, who claim they have nothing better to do with their spare time, have come up with a ready-made map of Singapore and Malaysia compatible to the Garmin Mapping GPS unit. Their goal – to get as many people especially GPS users, to visit the two countries, and to share knowledge that even locals may not be aware of. The best part about the duo's map is that it is free, and sometimes as accurate as commercially produced ones that often cost thousands of ringgit and are not as accessible to the man on the street.

So what exactly is GPS? According to local geographic information system (GIS) website MalaysiaGIS.com (www.malaysiagis.com), it is a network of 24 satellites operated by the US Defence Department that is used to pinpoint the exact location of a radio receiver on the surface. Arranged in orbit above the Earth, the satellites complete a full orbit of the Earth every 12 hours, all the while transmitting a constant time signal from an atomic clock onboard each satellite. GPS receivers on the ground can then pick up the signals from at least four satellites, 24 hours a day, and calculate its own position with immaculate precision by determining the time it takes for the signal to arrive from each satellite’s known position in space. Thus, a person with a GPS receiver unit is able to pinpoint his exact location, no matter which part of the planet he may be.

Even though in Malaysia, GPS units may still be considered a luxury item (each unit costs well over a thousand ringgit), the popularity of the hobby is spreading as more uses for the GPS system is found. However, because the relatively niche market in South-East Asia makes it less viable for manufacturers to commercially produce a detailed map of the region, most of the maps of the region that are currently available tend to be rather rudimentary, showing only major roads and highways of KL and Singapore. In contrast, maps of the United States and Europe are incredibly detailed and in some cases, even allow the users to find a numbered residential address.

Making the map
It was because of this that Singaporean Teoh initiated the idea of making a free and detailed map of Singapore and Malaysia for the GPS unit. He also thought it would be a fun project that would encourage more tourists to visit the region, and furthermore to give them the confidence to explore the places shown on the map without fear of getting lost.

Adil also thought it would be fun. "I am definitely not in it for the money. I like to think of it as my own personal contribution to Malaysia,” he said, grinning. "I started out drawing it for my own personal use, but realised later that it might be useful to others."

Remarkably, Adil and Teoh have not met before, communicating mostly through e-mail and telephone. They initially "met up" when Adil responded to Teoh’s announcement on MalaysiaGIS.com about making the map.

Apparently, the process of making the map involved a lot of driving around with the GPS unit on. The hard part is the labelling and naming of the streets after the initial tracking has been done and downloaded to the computer.

Teoh explained: "First you take a drive with the GPS device properly installed in the car. While driving or walking along, it then automatically collects information about your trip, which is called a 'track log'. We then save the track logs into a computer and load them with a freeware map editor software specially designed for editing Garmin unit tracks, which will display the track log to indicate where we have been. After that, we polish the tracks and draw lines indicating ponds, roads or trails on the display."

Adil summed it up: "To put it simply, the unit will leave a trail of 'breadcrumbs' that map out the trail I am driving along. We then use the computer software to connect the dots to show the actual road, and then add details like landmarks, road names and so on."

All the maps were painstakingly hand-drawn (on the computer, of course) by both Teoh and Adil. These maps were also supplemented by using commercial navigational maps bought off the shelf; which were scanned into the computer, and then overlaid onto the self-drawn one.

What to use it for?
In the few months since Adil and Teoh started collaborating, their maps have grown quite substantially. Besides a detailed map of Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, the major townships around KL have been included. Penang and Langkawi have also been plotted to a certain extent, while some wonderful and scenic back roads in Pahang have been drawn in. Even the railway line from KL to Thailand has been included in the map as well as ten famous biking trails in Malaysia.

With a detailed map of Malaysia, tourists can use their GPS receivers to explore cities and easily get to tourists attractions. Armed with the map, users can reference their current location to something tangible – like their home or hotel. It is also a treasure trove filled with locations of attractions and facilities ranging from shopping malls, hospitals and police stations, to cheap and tasty seafood everywhere in Malaysia and Singapore. "Many of the POIs (points of interest) we have are related to food, as Malaysia and Singapore have lots of good food," Teoh said. "With our map, you can find the best coffee in Segamat or the best Nyonya food in Singapore – from our point of view, of course."

The GPS can also be used to play a high-tech "hide and seek" game, called Geo-caching, all around the world. The game is simple – people hide things and give clues and you use your GPS unit to go to the area and try to find the hidden cache.

For the record, Adil and Teoh’s maps are not sanctioned by Garmin International or any other company, and are produced as a private venture. Users utilise it at their own risk and neither Adil or Teoh holds any responsibility for any damage incurred during the use (or misuse) of the map.

"There should not be any problem as long as you follow our recommendations, since we tested the maps before releasing them," said Teoh. "I would also like to emphasise that the maps were created out of our own sweat and hard work, and we are not out to make a profit out of this project. The maps are also perfectly legal, and do not infringe on any copyright issues." Adil added: "We hope that nobody decides to copy our data to package and sell it. We want this map to be free for everyone." They also look forward to having more people join them to complete the map. "Since there are about a few thousand GPS users in Malaysia, we hope those who may have track logs of their area would be able to send them to us. We plan to have a complete map of Malaysia one day, and having everyone contributing their track logs would make it much easier to accomplish," said Adil. The free maps for the Garmin GPS receiver units can be downloaded from the following websites http://groups.msn.com/GPSMapMalaysiaSingapore or http://www.malaysiagis.com/related_technologies/gps/resources4.cfm. For more information or to contribute your track logs, e-mail Adil at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or Teoh at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .