KUALA LUMPUR: Globally, there are 30,000 map editors who ensure navigation app Waze accurately navigates millions of people to their intended destinations. Out of this, about 300 are Malaysians.
The global community of volunteer map editors are the ones who keep the map updated constantly to reflect the current road conditions. A Level 6 country manager is one of the top titles for a Waze map editor.
One of them is Paul Kok.
"My journey as a Waze map editor started out as an app user. At that time in 2012, there were many errors on Waze, such as incorrect road names or inaccurate listings for restricted roads.
"I wanted to correct those errors, so I tried to edit them and found I could make the corrections," said Kok.
This motivated Kok, to continue editing and correcting inaccuracies as well as help other Wazers reach their destination more effectively. He also helps and guides new map editors in map editing.
Through his experience in the Waze community, Kok has travelled the region to meet other like-minded map enthusiasts and make lifelong friends. In 2014, Kok attended his first Waze local meetup where he met other fellow editors face-to-face and learned that they were from all walks of life.
Since then, Kok has participated in almost all the meetups at the local and regional levels. He visited Philippines, Singapore and Thailand to speak with Waze map editors from other countries.
"We created a chat room called WazeMY Kopitiam, where the editors are strictly forbidden from talking about map editing and sensitive issues. Most of the time the chat room is filled with pictures of food and some even chat about parenting.
"Doing this has helped the editors feel closer to each other and together we see ourselves editing the map as one big family. We enjoy each other's presence even though some have not seen each other in real life." Kok said.