Hazlin Hassan
Muslim in space - finding Mecca at 27 thousand km/h. Right: Wenja, Khalid, Kameludin and Shukor at the Planetarium in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Reuters
Kuala Lumpur. The USA has astronauts, China has taikonauts, and Malaysia will soon have an "Angkaswan". The country intends to launch its citizen into space for the first time next year. The search for the candidate, who will fly in the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station in October 2007, attracted tens of thousands of applicants. Three men and a woman who were awarded a month of training in Moscow reached the final stage. Three of them are Muslims and scientists are already working on solutions for prayer without gravity.
A series of experiments and tests will filter out the best candidate and another candidate for backup. The two will undergo 18 months of training in Moscow. The head of the National Space Agency in Malaysia, Mazlan Othman, said the program is an inspiration to young people in multicultural Malaysia, which strives for harmony between its Malay, Indian and Chinese communities. "Because three of the candidates are Muslims, it sends a message to the world that Muslims are also involved in the most advanced and sophisticated scientific technology." The first and so far the only Muslim to go into space is the Saudi prince Sultan bin Salman, who flew on the American space shuttle Discovery in 1985.
The beginning of the project was in 2003, when Russia agreed to send a Malaysian to the space station as part of a billion dollar deal with Malaysia, from which it purchased 18 fighter jets. It was at the end of the 20-year reign of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, father of the slogan "Malaysia Bula!" - "Malaysia can". Except for a few completely foolish attempts to set records such as sitting at the largest dinner or making the longest eggroll in the world, during this period two Malaysians climbed Everest and one sailed around the world.
The latest adventure captured the imagination of ordinary Malaysians, and the media enthusiastically reported on the rigorous selection process; Fans even organized bets on who would be the first Malaysian in space. A conference held in Kuala Lumpur examined questions such as how Muslim astronauts are supposed to pray in space, locate Mecca while traveling at a speed of 27 km/h in orbit around the Earth, and cook food according to the laws of Islamic law. The proposals that the astronauts will fly into space dressed in traditional batik clothes and equipped with popular Malaysian foods have been rejected.
The candidates passed physical endurance tests; Among other things, they had to cross a swamp on foot and spend nights in a plantation with snakes and bloody "corpses" that they hosted for company. "I came out of the swamp after facing my worst fears," said the only candidate in the group, S. Wenja. Venja, an Indian engineer and the only one who does not come from the Malay Muslim majority, said she does not see the question of her origin as a problem. "I really don't see myself as non-Malay or as a Malay. It doesn't play a role. I see myself as a Malaysian," she said.
The other candidates are Malaysia Airlines pilot Muhammad Faiz Kamaludin, 34, military dentist Faiz Khalid, 26, and Sheikh Mozafar Shukor, a 34-year-old medical officer at a hospital. Faiz Khalid agreed that origin is not important, and said that it is essential that "the best person flies into space." Maybe it will be me, maybe not, but it's not about me, it's about Malaysia. And even if I'm not elected, I will support whoever is elected, because Malaysia will go into space, it will be a historic moment."
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