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Everything you need to write about Aliff Azhar and TechMavie Digital: facts you can check, bios, what he builds, quotes, logos and images.

Email for an interview

press@techmavie.digital

Facts checked 11 November 2026

At a glance

The numbers

Every figure here can be checked on the apps themselves or asked about.

areas of Malaysia in Malaysia Transit, plus cross-border links into Singapore and Thailand: 13areas of Malaysia in Malaysia Transit, plus cross-border links into Singapore and Thailand
transit providers in Malaysia Transit, from Rapid KL and KTM to Penang Ferry and Causeway Link: 18transit providers in Malaysia Transit, from Rapid KL and KTM to Penang Ferry and Causeway Link
languages in Malaysia Transit and in SG-JB Transit, including Malay, Chinese and Tamil (Malaysia Transit also has Iban): 13languages in Malaysia Transit and in SG-JB Transit, including Malay, Chinese and Tamil (Malaysia Transit also has Iban)
airports and land borders covered by the Tour With Alan arrival guide, in 10 languages: 12airports and land borders covered by the Tour With Alan arrival guide, in 10 languages
Malaysia Transit API requests served since 26 December 2025, by the API’s own count on 11 November 2026: 239,000+Malaysia Transit API requests served since 26 December 2025, by the API’s own count on 11 November 2026
open-source MCP servers he runs, including live transit and Malaysian and Singaporean open data for AI assistants: 18open-source MCP servers he runs, including live transit and Malaysian and Singaporean open data for AI assistants
the year Aliff started mapping buses as a Moovit volunteer: Rapid Penang, Rapid Kuantan, myBAS Ipoh and Perak Transit: 2019the year Aliff started mapping buses as a Moovit volunteer: Rapid Penang, Rapid Kuantan, myBAS Ipoh and Perak Transit

About

Aliff Azhar

George Town, Penang, Malaysia. Use either bio as it is.

Short bio · 51 words

Aliff Azhar is a licensed tourist guide in George Town, Penang, who builds free public transport apps for Malaysia and its neighbours. Through his studio, TechMavie Digital, he runs Malaysia Transit, SG-JB Transit and Hat Yai Transit, and his Tour With Alan guide helps visitors through their first hours in Malaysia.

Long bio · 97 words

Aliff Azhar is a licensed tourist guide and app builder in George Town, Penang. He has volunteered as a bus mapper for Moovit since 2019 and spent seven years as a content writer before founding Tour With Alan in July 2025 and TechMavie Digital in September 2025. Malaysia Transit, his free app, tracks buses live and shows train and ferry departures across 13 areas of Malaysia, including small-city BAS.MY networks. For operators that publish no open data, he builds the timetables himself. He builds with AI-assisted development and runs everything himself. Tour guests know him as Alan.

Worked and volunteered with

Moovit
Volunteer bus mapper since 2019, and Community Ambassador in 2020–21
Boutir
Content marketing and relationship associate, 2021–22
Häfele Malaysia
Freelance writer for its social media ads, 2021–22

Logos belong to their owners and show where Aliff has worked or volunteered, not an endorsement. Häfele logo: Häfele Online Team, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Names and spelling

Aliff Azhar: Full name on first mention, then Aliff. Tour guests and the Tour With Alan guide call him Alan.
TechMavie Digital: His one-person software studio in Penang (registered as TechMavie Digital Services).
Malaysia Transit, SG-JB Transit, Hat Yai Transit: Three separate free apps, each with its own website.
Tour With Alan: A separate product from the transit apps: the arrival guide, and his guided tours in Penang.
Wira Bandar PC: The game. Always "a fork of OpenTTD", never a game made from scratch.

What he builds

The apps, the API and the game

A short summary of each, ready to quote. Everything here is free.

Malaysia Transit
Live, free
Live bus tracking plus train and ferry departures across 13 areas of Malaysia, with a journey planner and fares, in 13 languages. Built on data.gov.my open data, plus timetables Aliff builds himself for operators with no open feed, such as KLIA Ekspres, Penang Ferry and Causeway Link.
More on this site
SG-JB Transit
Live, free
Singapore and Johor Bahru in one real-time view: live buses on both sides of the Causeway, fares in SGD and MYR, MRT crowd levels and a cross-border guide.
More on this site
Hat Yai Transit
Live, free
An unofficial app for getting around Hat Yai, Thailand: the EV City Loop bus, the airport minibus and SRT trains to Padang Besar on the Malaysian border, in Thai, English and Malay.
More on this site
Tour With Alan
Live, free with an email sign-up
An interactive arrival guide for Malaysia in 10 languages: the visa check, the MDAC arrival card, autogates, SIMs, e-wallets, and live public transport from 12 airports and land borders.
More on this site
Wira Bandar PC
Version 0.4.0
A free city-building and public transport game for Windows, set in Malaysia and Singapore, with bus tenders, BRT, councils and state elections. A fork of OpenTTD: OpenTTD's code with changes, free software under the GNU GPL v2.
More on this site
Malaysia Transit API
Live, free keys
Free API keys for the same real-time data the apps use, over plain REST, with MCP servers for AI assistants.
More on this site
MavieChat and Janji
Open source
Two open-source (MIT) phone apps for people who run their own servers: MavieChat for self-hosted AI on iPhone (coming soon to the App Store), and Janji for self-hosted Cal.diy bookings on iOS and Android.
More on this site

In his words

Quotes you can use

Word for word from Aliff's own pages. For a fresh quote on your story, email him.

01Aliff Azhar, mynameisaliff.co.uk
“I'm a licensed tour guide in George Town and I build apps that help people get around Malaysia.”
02Aliff Azhar, techmavie.digital, About
“When I say something works in production, I mean I've deployed it and I'm watching it run.”
03Aliff Azhar, Tour With Alan, on the arrival guide
“I research, write and update it myself so your first days in Malaysia go smoothly.”

Before you publish

Please get these right

Malaysia Transit, SG-JB Transit and Hat Yai Transit are independent apps. They use official open data, but no operator or agency runs or endorses them.
Buses move live on the map. Trains and ferries show live or scheduled departures at their stations, not moving icons.
For operators with no open data feed, the timetables are built and maintained by TechMavie Digital, so those times are scheduled, not live.
Wira Bandar PC is a fork of OpenTTD: OpenTTD's code with changes, free software under the GNU GPL v2. It is not made or endorsed by the OpenTTD team.
MavieChat isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Open WebUI, DeepTutor or OpenCode. Janji isn't made by or affiliated with Cal.com, Inc.
The apps are free and carry no ads. They are paid for by the studio and by readers who support the work.

Press kit

Logos and images

Free to use in coverage of TechMavie Digital and its apps. A recent photo of Aliff and larger files are available on request.

TechMavie Digital logo
PNG, 1024 × 1024
Download
Aliff, illustrated portrait
WebP, 640 × 640 (an illustration, not a photo)
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Wira Bandar PC: a city in 2042
WebP, 1240 × 640
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Wira Bandar PC: election night
WebP, 1120 × 440
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Wira Bandar PC: town buildings
WebP, 1200 × 800
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Janji: the bookings screen
WebP, phone screenshot with demo data
Download
MavieChat app icon
PNG, 512 × 512
Download