First Malaysian In Space Is Now Datuk

So our spaceflight participant predictably got his datukship.

It feels like a let-down to compare his efforts (if you can call it that) to that of Nicol David, who is a world champion in her own right.

As for Sheikh Muszaphar... what did he do? Eat Malaysian food in space?

I've been pretty hard on the man. It was never personal, but I felt the entire space programme was a gross misuse of funds for a lack of purpose.

In light of our current economic situation, with petrol prices rising and the inflation rate sky-rocketing, it was such a waste of money.

Observations Of The Navel Officer

It appears that the occasional navel-gazing yields literary inspiration.

A certain officer of the midriff gives his opinion on why our Angkasawan is NOT an astronaut.

Sitting in a fighter jet and bringing a briefcase doesn't make one an 'airman' or fighter pilot.

Travelling on a destroyer or in a submarine with a Sony handycam doesn't make one a sailor or seaman, because it's a trip, not a career or full time profession.

Flying to the ISS carrying Malaysian food for 'scientific experiments' will not qualify one for astronaut or scientist status.

This is exactly what I've been trying to tell folks, except I needed 5 posts and finally a stumble into a particular former office jock's site. :)

I do hope that all those people with low self-esteem get a boost, because it's costing a lot of taxpayer money. Good money which could be put to better use, in my opinion.

I'm tired of those pretty boy jokes myself.

I'm tired of the personal attacks on the man who volunteered to be blasted (in more ways than one) off and who will inevitably achieve a Datuk title.

I'm tired that whatever the achievement, it becomes racial.

Like KTemoc says, this has deepened our social rifts. No Indian or Chinese that I know of even watched the launch. Few of us could care less.

Why?

The Indians and Chinese do not see it as a Malaysian thing. They see it as the exemplification of Ketuanan Melayu.

Except we don't believe in the supremacy part. Unfortunately, we indulge it.

KTemoc On The Space Fiasco

The dude has a point when he says this space blastoff deepens our social rift.

His take on why our space boy has been blasted to glory. In more ways than one.

Muszaphar suffered from two handicaps:

(1) He is a Melayu (Malay), hence his candidature has been (and still is) immediately a suspect! Whether he was the best candidate is totally irrelevant - he would automatically be seen by many hostile to the BN as someone picked because the colour of his skin or his political affiliation or connections.

(2) He hops on what has been seen as a BN rather than Malaysian effort to introduce space flights, admittedly at a ludicrous fee, into our span of activities - bad boy!

He has an even more interesting opinion on the issue of self-esteem.

Go and read it for yourself.

No, Not Acting Out Of Envy

It is official.

I have logical myopia.

But only logical myopia, mind you. I can still see other objects clearly and this boy has the most dazzling smile I've seen in a long time. Damn!!

It appears that most Malaysians are divided in their opinion over this space programme.

Certain parties are delighted over the choice of candidate, in particular, X-Eyed Jules, who believes that his aesthetic qualities especially, should be milked.

Unfortunately because he is so good-looking some jealous souls have been cruel enough to spread rumours that the good doctor bats for the other side (I heard this from a 10 year old boy, believe it or not)..

..Imagine if a foreign female has never met a Malaysian male before (and doesn't know any 10-year old Malaysians) and she sees DSM’s mug on the NASA website. Wouldn’t that provide a wonderful first impression?..

.. I could already see the Tourism Minister planning a campaign to woo shallow female tourists to Malaysia on the back of DSM’s fame.

Then again, X-Eyed Jules cannot be accused of being myopic; he is already cross-eyed anyway. :)

Then there are those die-hard fans of the space programme who accuse their opponents of "acting out of pure envy".

If I was consumed with pure envy, I would say pretty boy is gay. But I don't think he is, and wouldn't care if he was (I don't stand a chance anyway!).

But again, I'm still more concerned with the purpose and outcome of this whole programme which is costing us a bomb.

I do wonder. Are we really expected to be proud of our "astronauts" when they have not done anything exceptionally spectacular beyond donning a space-suit? Malaysia Boleh? Boleh apa? Pakai baju?

A Voice says, "This is our first trip up and its not our space craft. Before we run, shouldn't we learn to walk."

This is not learning to walk, much less run. This is being carried, which serves no purpose whatsoever.

Let's look at the definition of ASTRONAUT:

An astronaut or cosmonaut (Russian) is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft.

Until 2003, astronauts were sponsored and trained exclusively by governments, either by the military, or by civilian space agencies. However, with the first sub-orbital flight of the privately-funded SpaceShipOne in 2004, a new category of astronaut was created: the commercial astronaut. With the rise of space tourism, NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency agreed to use the term "spaceflight participant" to distinguish those space travelers from astronauts on missions coordinated by those two agencies.


Astronaut Candidacy requirements
-------------------------------------------------

Pass a strict physical examination, and have a distant visual acuity no greater than 20/50 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20. Blood pressure, while sitting, must be no greater than 140 over 90.

Commander and Pilot
Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics is required, and a graduate degree is desired, although not essential.
At least l,000 hours flying time in jet aircraft, and experience as a test pilot is desirable.
Height must be 64 inches (5.33 ft) to 76 inches (6.33 ft).

Mission Specialist
Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics, as well as at least three years of related professional experience.
Applicant's height must be 62 inches (5.17 ft) to 76 inches (6.33 ft).

Now engineers are highly boring individuals. No one really makes movies or dramas about us. The only field we seem to excel in is in aerospace, and even that is a highly competitive field.

Trust me, I know. At the risk of exposing my identity and/or blogging about work, I have a degree in Aerospace Engineering, majoring in Aeronautics and minoring in Astronautics.

And even I have no business being up in space. I'm just not qualified. Period.

Assuming I was born in the USA and had a fighting chance, I only have a bachelor's degree and no experience in the armed forces, which seems to be an unspoken requirement.

Those of you who remember Lisa Nowak, who gained brief notoriety for her diaper and stalking fiasco, will know that she received a BS degree in aerospace engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1985. Nowak received an MS degree in aeronautical engineering and a degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering in 1992 from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.

Nowak received her commission from the U.S. Navy in 1985 and became a naval flight officer in 1987. After her postgraduate studies Nowak entered Aerospace Engineering Duty and the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. She has logged over 1,500 hours of flight in over 30 different aircraft during her career in the Navy, and has obtained the rank of captain.

Now that's an astronaut - cuckoo or not. How does our jaguh kampung compare?

Still glorified baggage, I'm afraid.

The HUGE Contribution To Space!!

So I happened to be browsing through The Mobster's site, which you REALLY don't know what you're missing if you've never dropped by. You poor, deprived individual, you. Go deprive thyself no more.

Anyway, there seems to be this HUGE debate as to the validity of Mob's choice of words in describing our jaguh kampung aka angkasawan.

Apparently the word "faggot" offended the sensitive ears of certain readers who felt the pretty boy doctor did not DESERVE to be maligned as such since he was selected by the government!

Yeah well, cry me a river.

I just LOVE Mob's response:

..let me reiterate the Space Participant knew about the glorified publicity stunt for Barisan Najis at the cost of tax payers' money all along. For my contribution of tax money, I can call his ass anything I want, dude. You can call him 'Angkasawan', I call him Instellar Numb Nut. ;)

You tell 'em, Mob!

Don't tell me Malaysians in general are so stupid to think that being an astronaut revolves solely around wearing a bloody space suit and getting launched into space.

At least there is hope for ONE Malaysian - Mob gets it right when he says:

Real astronauts spend their entire lives preparing for these moments and behind them are hundreds and thousands of engineers, technicians, ground support, crew and etc backing him/her up for the flight.

EXACTLY!!

And I don't give a rat's ass to what the Russians say. They're benefitting from Malaysian gross stupidity. I would think there is someone smooth enough to do the PR thingy. And yes, apparently, there's the fluent Bahasa Indonesia-speaking diplomat in the form of Alexander Karchava.

The Star has taken up the task of making us feel better about our money going down the drain.

Russian ambassador to Malaysia, Karchava claims that the, "..Angkasawan had an important job to do, carrying out vital scientific experiments to benefit Malaysia and the world."

Pray. Tell us stupid citizens what those "vital scientific experiments" may be. Surely it does not involve tea or dough? Or kid's games?