October 10, 2007, Malaysians rejoice at Dr Sheikh Muszaphar being the first Malaysian in space. It was truly achievement of sorts and it was a wise choice that Malaysian Government was quick to rectify the purpose of the space mission (captured in Wikipedia here) from this
The Star, November 15, 2006
The astronaut - yet to be selected - will play "batu seremban,'' or "five stones'' and spin traditional
Malay tops in space, Agriculture Ministry parliamentary secretary Rohani Abdul Karim told
parliament on Wednesday.
Rohani, who was replying on behalf of the Science, Technology and Innovations Ministry, said the
astronaut would also do batik painting and making teh tarik.
till a month later as reported in The Star, December 18, 2006
There will be no teh tarik-making or roti canai-tossing experiments in space for our Angkasawan
when he blasts off in October.
Instead, he will carry out at least 10 laboratory tests for serious research designed by 10 universities,
institutes of higher education and government science agencies.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis said the
experiments were important as “they will have an important impact on our local food and medical
industries”.
Rohani said the training programme for the Malaysian astronaut in Russia would not cost the Treasury a single sen BUT the cost is approximately USD26million (RM95 million) which was a project under the government-to-government offset agreement through the purchase of Sukhoi SU-30MKM fighter jets for the Royal Malaysian Air Force worth USD1billion. No free rides lah!
While the rocket was flying into space, veteran astronaut Captain Robert “Hoot” Gibson, who was a guest
at the event, had asked Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis
who would be the next Malaysian cosmonaut.
Jamaluddin, who was in Kazakhstan, in turn asked Abdullah, who answered in jest that it would be
when Malaysia buys its next batch of (Russian) planes.
Jamaluddin then asked Abdullah whether he thought Dr Faiz would get to go to space.
Abdullah then told Jamaluddin: “When you see him next, convey our salam (greetings) to him and we
hope he will be the next angkasawan.”
So who will be the next Angkasawan from Malaysia? With Captain Dr Faiz remained a hopeful, my thoughts would be a 3 corner fight for the next Malaysian "astronaut"!
(a) Captain Dr Faiz Khaleed,
(b) a Malaysian "monkey" with high aspirations and
(c) an most traveled leader in Malaysian Government history.
Visit offiicial Angkasawan website for updates!
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