organised chaos

He has made history for all Malaysians and Muslims. I am beaming with pride.

You know when Yuri Gagarin and Gherman Titov were shortlisted for the finalists of the first manned spaceflight, the Soviets could not make up their mind. Both were equally excellent under intensive physical training. Soviets finally chose Yuri over Gherman due to the following factors: his modest upbringing, his appearance, his capacity to handle media attention, his Russian heritage, his name.

Oh yeah, screw NASA.

ps: I take back what I said bout Dr Musz being a man. DATUK-TO-BE Musz mind you.

How could you not have shortlisted me???

Man, I was so bersemangat about this whole thing, and I was cautious about who I was to sms too. In the end, I smsed three people, two of which said they’re sick of the bloody astronouts who just HAPPEN to be Malaysian who just HAPPEN to go to space and one who replied how he’s happy Dr Faiz is from St Johns… Haha. So yeah. I was watching the blast off from the edge of my seat… I can’t believe I would ever feel this way, but I actually applauded and got teary eyed too!

ps: This is Aisya Shurfa here, I couldn’t log into friendster cuz they’re doing some maintainance…

Lutfi:
NASA has (have?) their own definition of an astronaut, but apparently Dr. Sheikh doesn’t fulfill the criteria. He’s an accepted cosmonaut in Russia though.

Whateverlah.

The point here is to prove a point: that the skies are within reach for the Malaysian who dares to dream…and can withstand the rigorous trainings to qualify.

Pai:
Laaa…if only I had known! In retrospect, I think I could have done away with a couple of names. Bukannya apa, but I was looking for people to share not only the moment, but the enthusiasm!

Wait. I didn’t make your list either! So we’re even.
The next time I’m on the brink of a proud Malaysian moment, I’ll be sure to include you. =)

Ps. Nak kuih raya.

i say make it a Tan Sri Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor..not only he conquers space but he conqured our pride..he made us rejoice again and proud to own the name Malaysian. be it a tourist or an astronaut..he made Malaysians united in being proud. finally i see a glimpse of hope after 50 years. Above all else, you can be whatever u want to be but only if God wills can u conquer ur dreams. Here is to 50 more years..God willing.

Malaysia’s first Angkasawan Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor is a bona fide cosmonaut and not a space flight participant as earlier suggested, a former American shuttle astronaut said.

Captain Robert “Hoot” Gibson said he regarded Dr Sheikh Muszaphar as a peer.

“The Russians trained him for a year and he is eminently qualified to function as a cosmonaut or an astronaut. He should be called one,” Gibson said at the KL Convention Centre just before the launch of the Soyuz TMA-11 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

There were earlier reports that Nasa had referred to Dr Sheikh Muszaphar as a “space flight participant”, a term reserved for space tourists.

Russian Ambassador to Malaysia Alexander Karchava refuted that suggestion and said he was a full-fledged cosmonaut.

Daad:
I don’t know…but I’d rather he NOT get any title. It’s not that I don’t recognise his sacrifices, but seeing as anyone can get a title depending on the going rate nowadays, it’s made me lose respect for the Datukship/Tan Sri-ship/etc. I know that it’s unfair to generalise that every title-holder is an undeserving one, but the ones who aren’t deserving have brought down the level of respect that comes with the title. At least to me lah. Is that a bad thing?

Lutfi:
I’m over the astronaut-or-not debate. Some articles call him so, others label him a space traveller. But like Daad said, Dr. Sheikh’s done enough already for the Malaysians. As long as we recognise him as an angkasawan, I think that’d be enough.

It’s time we looked at ourselves through our own lenses rather than other people’s.

“It’s a small step for me, but a great leap for the Malaysian people.’’
you’re right dr. muszaphar. i hope that this is the beginning of series of joint space exploration projects with other great countries, notably the United States and the Europe in a quest for a better understanding of the vast and mysterious outer space. just finished watching nat geo’s space mysteries: comets: target earth and i realized that our quest into space to conduct experiments like the crystallization of protein and whatever are such child’s play(sometimes i wondered whether these experiments were purpotedly devised to give the programme some purpose, esp. when i read once in the newspaper that they called in UKM’s professor etc) compared to wat the NASA do everyday. Here’s a few that i knw: the Spaceguard project to detect near-earth object, scanning the space for another earth etc. my view is that sending an astronaut into space is not as important today than it was during the space race era, but what we do in our effort to better understand the universe and ultimately to prevent our own extinction (naive or watever you guys want to say but i strongly believe that one day we human will have the technology to do it or at least to delay it, and i strongly believe to do that we need to reach into the deep space). look at what nasa does nw - every experiment and project and exploration is aimed at shedding light to our understanding of the universe. and only when necessary that a man is needed to be put up there will nasa do it.
but i still support malaysia’s space program though. after all, we need to do sthg to jumpstart our initiatives in space exploration. also the space program has fueled my interest in knwing more about the outer space.
(Note: tis is only my opinion, anyone reading it may disagree but PLS dun create any controversy or say that i intended to do so. it is not my purpose in the first place. also i look upon dr. muszaphar and dr. faiz as national hero cos they have the right stuff to become an astronaut)

Poh:
Referring to your note-so what if you spark controversy? I think you’re entitled to your own expressions, especially when you offer it in a both civil and structured manner. Relax lah Poh, you can say what you want here.

About the experiments being child’s play, I don’t know enough to be able to look into that, although it was reported that ‘University of Osaka was keen in the protein crystallisation experiment while the University of Colorado had assisted in preparations for the cells and microbes experiments.’(The Star, 17th October)

But even if it is child’s play compared to what NASA do every day, I think its expected since Malaysia is practically a baby in this field. To gain experience, one must start somewhere before we can join the ranks of the Russians and Americans, although that may take years. But at least we’ve begun.

I share your sentiments. I know it sounds naive, but as I mentioned in my entry, I’d like Malaysia to be serious is maintaining work in space technology and really develop it. I would be greatly disappointed if this turns out to be a one-time event to evoke national pride and patriotism before lapsing into nothing. That would be a treachery to the Malaysian people.