Angkasawan Blast Off!
Our first ANngkasawan!Now, I don't know if you are aware of this, but as I write this Malaysia would official have its first man up in space.
According to the offical website, "The Angkasawan Programme is a giant step for Malaysia in developing its scientific and technological capabilities and in buiding its international image.".
When they say giant steps, I think they were talking in terms of the ant world, because honestly, I don't see just what kind of a step forward we have made. What kind of progress have me made just by spending millions of ringgit to send 1 single guy up to space for a few days? Is our economy better? Are our people more united? Does it suddenly make us proud of being Malaysians? No, no and no..... The millions spent on training this guy, and not to mention the sheer amount of publicity this has generated is staggering. The media is all over it, and ASTRO even dedicated a special channel to keep the nation updated on our progress into space.
No doubt, its truly history in the making. But what kind of history are we making? The Japanese, Russian and Americans made their own way up to space, with their own technology and effort. They didnt buy a ticket for the next rocket to space. And that is precisely what we did. And what about it supposedly being the first GIANT step in scientific and technological advances? All the other crew members are highly trained astronaut's with duties to perform on board. What will our guy do? Well, nothing, except eat rendang ayam, kuih bangkit and other assorted kuih-kuih, at least that was what The Star Newspaper reported anyway. (thats it Malaysians, always thinking of your stomach). If you strip it all down to the bear essentials.. our first astronaut is nothing more than a 'space participant' a.k.a tourist. What kind of experiments of science will he be conducting? Well... there was talk about how to make teh tarik in space.. (thank God they didnt go through with that), but the last I hear, he's gona try to determine which direction to pray to from space... hoorah...... For a premier newspaper such as The Star to start reporting what our dear Angkasawan will be eating just goes to show just what kind of significance this is really. We aren't trying to break some barrier in science and technology...there is no real scientific thing going on here... we just trying to fly up to space, share some rendang and kuih.. and tell everyone we have taken a big step forward into ... whatever it is we are trying to do la (which is nothing really)....
Let me just say this... half the nation is laughing at it, making jokes and thinking its a complete waste of money. Scientific experiments are done in labs.. not in space. We arent at that level yet where we can send people up to space and say we are as advanced as other nations... We still have people living in zinc houses and on the streets..... and we don't even really know how to make our own cars without a big brother partner guiding us yet....We are a young nation with so much more to learn and do. National pride is not a marketing game.. Other people feel proud of their country not because its famous.. or that everyone knows it... but because it truly is a great country...maybe because of its heritage.. or its technology.. or its people... or its importance to the world. Which one are we? None... and that is where the other half of the nation comes in... the rest of us Malaysians... just syok sendiri saja la.... No one is raising an eyebrow... Any other nation can pay their way and send one of their people to space as tourist.. just none of them are dumb enough... until now. We are doing it because some genius in Parliament decided this would be a fun thing to do over Hari Raya.
Sorry to pour ice water over your celebrations Malaysia... other than having temporary bragging rights over Singapore... there really is nothing significant about this achievement.... we didnt built the rocket.. we dont own the technology.. we dont have the knowledge... and we have no stake in the International Space Station... Its all just a marketing ploy to put Malaysia on the map.... but others will look and laugh! So much for building an international image... Hello Putrajaya, we are getting all the wrong sorts of attention...
Ya.. ya.. ya.. you say its history in the making... the First Malaysian into Space... but so was making the longest yao zha guai on earth... and roundest roti canai....and most people eating nasi lemak at a time... and now we have the honour of being the first man to eat rendang ayam in space... the fella will come back with a Datuk title no doubt for this momentous achievement...... someone tell me we are not just syok sendiri here... In the mean time, let me cover my face and hide
Malaysia Boleh!
posted by Compulsive Blogger @ 12:49 pm
Comments: 1
