Astronauts!!!

In yesterday’s class we were asked about our opinion on astronauts and the space service in Malaysia. Practically the whole class said it is useless and a waste of money, so my blog today is to prove otherwise.

Referring to articles ‘Doctor to be first astronaut’ and ‘Teh tarik in space’ (New Straits Times. September 5, 2006) and ‘HUKM doc says space experience comes before Masters studies’ and ‘Doctors make final cut in astronaut race’ (The Star, September 5, 2006), we can already see that not ordinary people get this once-in-a-lifetime chance, so the first question comes out here: Why do you think it is useless?

Out of 10,000 candidates, only four were left for the elimination round. They are S. Vanajah, a female senior quality engineer at Malaysia’s National Space Agency, Capt. Mohammed Faiz Kamaludin, Malaysia Airlines pilot, Capt. Dr Faiz Khaleed, an army dental surgeon, and the chosen one, Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, an orthopaedic doctor in HUKM. Tell me, are they ordinary people? They have amazing careers, and they look presentable in the pictures, their choices of words when answering reporter’s questions reflect their high level of knowledge and wisdom. If you think it is useless, then why do so many people applied for this programme? Why do the short listed candidates are all from the professional fields? Why do the Space Agency director-general and even the Russian ambassador are willing to come to the ceremony?

According to the articles, the final cut was made after MONTHS of stringent training and medical tests. If you think it is useless, then why do they need to train so much? Why do they need so many skills? And yet Malaysians prefer to watch cheesy reality TV shows about singing talent, and put so much emphasize to it rather than appreciating real talent and skills.

Our Prime Minister said these people will make Malaysia proud and put Malaysia on the map, and they also earned a place in our country’s history. Yes, I think so too. In order to be remembered as one of our country’s pride, you have to do something that is significant and not something that anyone can do. Putting this in history is worth it, rather than having 15 minutes of fame by being famous for a while at a certain time and then people will forget about you.

When you say it is useless, do you know the objective of their going into space? Dr Sheikh Muszaphar said he wants to absorb the knowledge and experience from this mission into his research. He also plans to conduct orthopaedic studies on the evolution of bone cells in space. He will also undergo a research and development programme, which is one of the emphasized aspects in our RMK 9, including research on cancer and Biotechnology. The science, Technology, and Innovation Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis said that this programme will help make children realize the importance of space science. Unlike my classmates who thought it is just useless and a waste of money...

The selected astronaut will undergo a 12-month training stint in the Yuri Gagarin Aerospace Training Centre, in Star City, Moscow. Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968) is the first human in space and the first human to orbit the Earth. In 1961. if it was such a big deal then, why can’t it be a big deal now? When I was a Form 5 student at MRSM Taiping, I remembered our physics teacher showed a movie in lecture entitled October Sky (a 1999 movie), which is about 4 boys having the same dream, which is to build a spaceship and explore the outer space. I like the tagline, which is “Sometimes one dream is enough to light up the whole sky’. Jake Gyllenhaal starred in this movie as Homer Hickam, and it is based on a true story. There is a book too, and I think the title is Rocket Boys. The title of the movie is October Sky because the first Sputnik launch was on October 1957, which was what inspired the boys. What I obtained from the movie is, curiosity never leaves you unsatisfied.

Okay, what I’ve been meaning to say is, if we have no idea or no understanding of what other people is doing, then we have no right to judge them harshly. Try to put ourselves in their shoes, if people say what we are doing now is useless and a waste of money, how do you feel? You have been working very hard and suddenly someone came to you and say such things, you must be very angry. So, it is unfair to say that about them. Everyone deserves to do what they want to do. If the government has so much faith in them and willing to provide a large amount of money for them, instead of saying bad things about them, do something to gain people’s faith in what you do so that they will be willing to help you realize your dream.

Malaysians have the habit when somebody does something out of the norm, they will underestimate them. Just because other people are ignorant doesn’t mean that what you are doing is wrong or useless or unsuccessful. Don’t let what people say bring you down.

For those who still think that this space programme is useless and a waste of money, I only have two words for you: Think again.