Photo (from left to right): Hasanal Abdul Wahid, Principal Assistant Secretary, Tourism Cooperation Section, Ministry of Tourism Sarawak; Nhazlisham Hamdan, Head of Street View Operations at Google Malaysia, Thailand & Indonesia; Y.B. Datuk Gramong Anak Juna, the Assistant Minister of Tourism Sarawak and Assistant Minister of Land Development; and Sajith Sivanandan, Managing Director of Google Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines & Emerging Markets.
Google first announced its Maps Street View initiative for Malaysia back in August 2013, and 11 months later in September 2014, Street View is officially live but only for Peninsular Malaysia, which it now said to have covered 90% of all publicly-accessible areas. Another 10 months have passed, and a couple of days ago Google Malaysia announced that Street View is finally available in East Malaysia, particularly Sabah and Sarawak.
While covering the whole Peninsular took Google around 13 months before the initial rollout, the company said that its Sabah and Sarawak coverage took around six months, and it now has almost 80% of Street View imagery of East Malaysia. These imagery include publicly-accessible federal and trunk roads, as well as the suburbs. 80% is a bit of a stretch though, considering townships like Lahad Datu, Semporna, Daro, and Niah are not yet covered.
Photo: The Trekker, the Trolley, the Trike, and the… Chevy.
Google Malaysia used cars like a Chevy to cover the Peninsular, but for East Malaysia, it opted for a more rugged Hyundai SUV. For off-road locations, an operator straps on the customized Trekker backpack, and covers the location on foot.
Google Maps Street View of Gunung Mulu National Park.
Google also went a step further to cover off-the-beaten-track locations and the highlight was Street View of Gunung Mulu National Park (Taman Negara Mulu), which happens to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site, known for its beautiful limestone pinnacles and karst formations. Google promises to cover other Malaysian parks in the future, such as Mount Kinabalu National Park, another UNESCO site. However, this also depends on whether the local authorities give Google the permission to capture these 360-degree imagery.
Pulls out phone to check-in for ‘I’m on a boat’ badge; realizes there is no cell coverage.
Speaking of which, the search engine giant also just completed its Paddle for Nature program in February 2015, that covers thousands of kilometers of Malaysian coastline on kayak, to deliver you the same Street View imagery along the coast.
Google Malaysia stressed that it takes privacy seriously, and Google Maps’ algorithm could automatically blur out faces and license plates. Should the system missed out on that, you could also click on the ‘report a problem’ link on the bottom-right to request for additional blurring or to highlight an inappropriate imagery.
To give Google Maps Street View a whirl, simply go to the website and drag the yellow Pegman on the bottom-right of the map, and drop it on any location highlighted in blue. On Android and iOS, long-press on a street to drop a pin, tap on the location name to open the description, and select Street View.
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