Waze and Umno... can't trust the change!

My father recently started learning how to use Waze on his smart phone. He's 62 years old, so you can imagine the comedy that ensued for my brothers and I!

Of course, we already had our fun when he was trying to figure out how to use his smart phone when he first acquired it ("Okay daddy. You have to turn it on first!").

But when it came to Waze, that wonderful Jewish app that helps you beat the ridiculous Kuala Lumpur traffic, it just took our amusement to whole different level!

As many would know, Waze helps you navigate roads so that you can always beat any heavy traffic. And this is done through user generated data.

It's kind of like a GPS system, but way better since you would know how heavy traffic is at a location before getting there, from people who are already there.

Waze would then also recommend to you an alternative route that would get you to where you want to go faster, if you trust it enough.

My father would type in the address of his destination and off he would go to follow the directions of the sexy voice of Ms. Waze.

Of course, she directed him through a route that avoided heavy traffic. It was also quite a different route than what my father was familiar with.

And so with every unfamiliar turn, my father would grow restless and anxious ("This is not the way! Nope! This is definitely not the way!").

And so, being the 62 year old man that he his and quite set in his way of doing things a certain way, he would defy all things (well, most) different and unfamiliar.

And off my father would veer from the recommended route and back he would go on the normal route that was filled with traffic, and then arriving late.

Now this reminds me of the recent Umno party elections (of which I had tweeted 'Umno's transformation & change went so smoothly, it's like nothing even happened!').

Just like my father and Waze, it seems that that some people (or political parties) who are so set in their ways can't let go and trust something new.

When something new comes along that is obviously a positive change, they can't seem to see it since they're so obsessed with what they have been doing all this while.

Fortunately for my father, his resistance towards change is only restricted to Waze's attempt to direct him on the road, of which he can overcome.

Unfortunately for Umno, it's resistance to change is towards everything that is progressive and intellectual, thus stopping itself from being relevant.