essay about dato dr sheikh muszaphar shukor

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A lookback on Malaysian space hero’s journey

On September 26, 2019

October 10, 2007 was a historical day for Malaysians. It was the day the first, and so far the only astronaut went to space. Twelve years on, one could still wonder, what exactly did he do up there?

Dato’ Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor was selected for the Malaysian Angkasawan spaceflight program in 2006. After completing 18-month training in Russia, it was announced on September 17 that he was set to fly on the Soyuz TMA-11 mission.

He was a guest of the Russian government, and therefore his role aboard Soyuz and the International Space Station (ISS) was referred to as “spaceflight participant” by Russian Federal Space Agency and NASA, a term reserved for a “space tourist”.

Although it was then refuted by former American shuttle astronaut Captain Robert “Hoot” Gibson, saying that Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar was a full-fledged cosmonaut , some still think that the things he did while up on space were “immaterial”.

A lookback on Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar’s adventure to space will hopefully shed a light on the abiding issue.

The science experiments

Before it became the “laughing stock of the century”, the plan was to have the Malaysian astronaut to do what no one in space had ever done before: playing traditional game batu seremban (the five stones) without gravity.

The proposition was then changed to Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar conducting four European Space Agency (ESA) experiments in the area of human physiology, which were to investigate the space motion sickness and the lower back pain astronauts often experience in weightlessness, as well as to do a test of a new technique to detect bone loss.

The last experiment was expected to contribute to the development of an early detection technique for osteoporosis on Earth.

Other than that, he was also reported to conduct experiments drawn up by Malaysian scientists , which included the study of the effects of microgravity and space radiation on cells and microbes, and experiments with proteins for a potential HIV vaccine.

However, since he was only allowed to bring back 7kg of load that included six experiment kits, a kit containing 14 symbolic items, videotapes, camera flash card, and his personal items, he had to terminate the last three experiments .

They were protein crystallisation, human umbilical vein endothilial cell (Huvec) and osteoblast experiments.

The results of these experiments went straight to laboratories upon landing back on Earth and as they were expected to be released in the next year , some still questioned the need to do the experiments in space, and why neuroscience experiments were conducted by an orthopaedic surgeon.

Sharing food for hari raya

Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar went to space during the last days of Ramadan.

He is a Muslim, so he was told to videotape his activities that reflected the life of a Muslim, only in space.

Other than praying five times a day despite the initial rule that said he had to pray 80 times in 24 hours, he was also fulfilling his religious duty to fast and to celebrate Aidilfitri when Ramadan ended.

There were rumours being spread that Malaysian astronaut would make teh tarik and toss roti canai in space as parts of his experiment, but they were shut down months before the take-off.

Instead, Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar packed satay, kuih raya and some other Malaysian delicacies with him for the hari raya festive, and had planned to share it on board the space station with the crewmembers.

The food sharing might not be significant to science, but it was something Malaysians found admirable – to have their traditional delicacies up in space, especially during hari raya though the satay’s kuah (gravy) had to be kept dry and tightly packed.

It was also a part of Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI)’s research on how to pack foodstuff for export in the future, in a manner that the food stays fresh for a longer time.

The experiments were all done for the benefits of local food and medical industries of Malaysia.

Many Malaysians are proud of Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar for being the first Malaysian to reach space and for his unapologetic portrayal of a good Muslim throughout his stay on the space station.

But no matter how positive the image he has tried to build in the public eye, and no matter how hard he works to encourage children to love science and technology, there will always be people who see him as a mere “space tourist” whose contribution was only drinking zero-gravity water in space.

“I hope Malaysia will rally to enter a new era and one day, we’ll have our own space rocket and become a leader in the aerospace arena.” – Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar

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Malaysian astronaut reveals secret to be successful in any field

Out of 11475 people who joined the Malaysian space program, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor was selected to be the first Malaysian astronaut and beam up to space in 2007. He rose above thousands of able competitors. What does he has that others lack, was it sheer luck, hard work or just destiny ?

Whatever it is Sheikh Muszaphar propelled to fame as soon as he landed back on earth. Hunted by the media and anybody who wanted to gain leverage from his fame, magazines of whatever genre line up to get him on their covers.

The fascination of Malaysian is intriguing as is his own success. Even the first Muslim astronaut Prince Sultan Bin Salman, a nephew of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia commented that Sheikh Muszaphar “is  the pride of the entire Islamic world”.

Perhaps he is the first Muslim who went to space without being apologetic of his faith. He maybe the ninth Muslim who went to space but he is the first Muslim astronaut who observed fasting during Ramadhan in space and was supplied with a formal guideline, a book entitled A Guideline of Performing Ibadah (worship) at the International Space Station (ISS)” which was approved by Malaysia’s National Fatwa Council.

“I want to share with the world what Islam is all about, when I went to space I do not want to focus only on science I wanted to involve Islam and arts. I want to show particularly to the Islamic world that no matter where you are you have to do your prayers, no one knows how it is done, I want it to be a reference for future Muslims going to space” said Muszaphar.   

Hold on to Your Dreams

Meeting with Sheikh Muszaphar will clear any doubts as to whether he deserves all the attention. The man exudes confidence and you can feel the atmosphere of the room change as soon as he walks in.

Unlike most people, who live life aimlessly at the mercy of circumstances like a ship without a rudder, Sheikh Muszaphar knew what he wanted since he was 10 years old. At that age he already had the ambition to go to space. That was 28 years ago, at that time he knew deep inside his heart that one day he would go to space

“I remember when looking up to the sky imagining fantasizing and things like that. I knew I wanted to be an astronaout since I was ten, I always knew that one they I would go,” said Muszaphar.

This is what sets him apart from the rest, instead of just wishing to go to space, he knew without a doubt that he would go to space one day.

Everyone has dream but they tend to cut their dreams into smaller pieces when faced with the rough and tumble of life. In the end they settle for less than what they bargained for. They imprisoned their minds with limitations as to what is achievable.

He keeps stressing that it is important to hold on to your dreams and to let it manifest into reality.

“That’s why you got to believe in yourself, most people dream but what do they do about it? Do they work hard for it? As time goes by it just subsides and goes away. So you must hold on to your dreams knowing that you will do it. So keep your dreams alive and keep doing things that might lead you closer to your goals  and when the opportunity arises just grab it,” Sheikh said Muszaphar.

So how do you have this unwavering faith in your dreams when if you think logically there is no possible way that you will come close to your dreams?

The trick according to Sheikh Muszaphar is you must develop the mental strength to see beyond present circumstances.

Mental Strength

Muszaphar explained how to have this mental strength and not let your present circumstances prevent you from aspiring for what may seem impossible right now.

“If you want something in life you must dream big. You must try very hard to achieve your dreams. You may not know and you may not get it in five years. It took me 25 years to achieve my dream. It can be a lifelong quest to make your dream a reality. So keep your dreams alive and keep doing things that might lead you to closer to your goals,” said Muzaphar.

Mental strength, however, is not something you acquire overnight;  it is persistent mental control.  It does help if you have a good upbringing and live in a supportive environment.

“Mental strength has to be built at an early age, you got to read lots of self-help and motivational books,  you got to be surrounded by positive people and you must not have any negative aura around you. Things like that. When you come to a stage when you are so sure of yourself you will succeed” said Muszaphar.

Yet the lack of an ideal upbringing is not an excuse to settle for a mediocre life. A good upbringing does help but it is not a prerequisite for success.  It is really about training your brain on how to response to your circumstances. It is about perception and seeing the glass half full instead of half empty.

“I am fortunate and blessed to have a good upbringing. Yet coming from a disadvantage background is not an excuse to not succeed in fulfilling your dream. Look at Einstein he never passed his high school exam. It is more of how you think and your being perspective to the circumstances that happen to you. It’s not exposure but it is your mindset” said Muszaphar.

Sheikhs Muzaphar do admit that it is difficult for some people to hold on to their dreams when all they can think about is making ends meet, mouths to feed and bills to pay.

Visualisation

So he outlined a simple technique that will help build the mental strength that would allow you to hold on to your dreams no matter what.  Sheikh Muszaphar urged anyone who wants to achieve something to visualize the goals they have already achieved.

Visualisation is a technique used by Russian Scientists who studied groups of Olympic athletes.  They compare the performance of athletes who spend 75 percent of their time on physical training against those who trained mentally. The findings were the group that train mentally performed better.

“It is the power of visualization, every night before I go to sleep I will always talk to my mind and visualize that I am going to space one day, I am going to space one day. You may not get it now and you may not get it 5 years from now. It took me 25 years to achieve my dream” said Muszaphar.

. His goal right now is to change the mindset of five children a day. Muzaphar wants children to dream big and believe that whatever their mind can conceive they can achieve.

Sheikh Muszaphar have gone to space, but his feet is firmly nailed to the ground, though he revealed what his secret of being an astronaut is but the biggest secret of his success is probably in what he said at the end of the interview.

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Home » Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor

Keynote Speaker Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor

Orthopaedic surgeon and the first malaysian astronaut.

Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, Malaysian orthopedic surgeon who became the first Malaysian to go into space. Dr. Sheikh was selected from 11,435 candidates at the beginning of 2006 for the Malaysian Angkasawan spaceflight program. He came on-board the International Space Station via a Russian Soyuz vehicle with the international Expedition 16... Read More

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Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, Malaysian orthopedic surgeon who became the first Malaysian to go into space. Dr. Sheikh was selected from 11,435 candidates at the beginning of 2006 for the Malaysian Angkasawan spaceflight program. He came on-board the International Space Station via a Russian Soyuz vehicle with the international Expedition 16 crew.

Sheikh earned a degree in medicine and surgery at Kasturba Medical College in Manipal, India. He also earned an advanced degree in orthopedic surgery at University Kebangsaan, Kuala Lumpur, Malay., and became an orthopedist at University Kebangsaan Malaysia Hospital. He was selected in 2006 from among 11,000 applicants to enter the Malaysian spaceflight program, Angkasawan. Angkasawan was the product of a Malaysian-Russian agreement in which Malaysia purchased 18 Russian fighter jets and Russia arranged to train and fly a Malaysian cosmonaut on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Sheikh became a national celebrity as the Malaysian press followed the preparations for his 10-day journey. On Oct. 10, 2007, Sheikh was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the ISS on Soyuz TMA-11 with commander Yury Malenchenko of Russia and flight engineer Peggy Whitson of the United States. He faced the challenge of becoming the first Muslim to observe Ramadan in space.

To assist him with the difficulty of performing daily rites on a ship that orbited Earth 16 times every 24 hours, the Malaysian government assembled 150 clerics and scientists who produced a booklet titled Guidelines for Performing Islamic Rites at the International Space Station. While aboard the space station, Sheikh performed experiments on-board the International Space Station (ISS) relating to the characteristics and growth of liver cancer and leukemia cells, studying the crystallization of various proteins and microbes in the weightlessness of space. He recorded video and addresses it to schoolchildren. He returned to Earth on board Soyuz TMA-10 on October 21.

On an international front, Sheikh Muszapahar’s motivational talks have recently been heard in California, USA, Jakarta and Bandung, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, Saudi Arabia , Jordan and Holland. He is an Ambassador to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, U.N. Ambassador for Global Peace, and recipient of the Shurah Islamic Council, California Peace Award among many other distinctions.

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Dr Shukor, an orthopaedic surgeon by profession, was the first Malaysian in space. He was selected as one of two astronauts to be trained at Star City in Russia and was subsequently selected to be the astronaut to further Malaysia’s Angkasawan programme, which sent him to the International Space Station in 2007. Images of him praying and celebrating Eid increased his popularity in the Muslim world. His launch also prompted the Malaysian National Fatwa Council to issue specific rulings regarding observance of religious obligations (praying and fasting) while in space. He is the author of best-selling books including My Way of Parenting and 49th Rule. Dr Shukor is currently at the National University of Malaysia UKM as a Research Fellow focusing on global issues like climate change, world hunger and humanitarian aid.

Source of Influence: Science & Technology

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Curriculum Vitae

DATO' DR. SHEIKH MUSZAPHAR SHUKOR AL MASRIE

Penerbitan berimpak tinggi, penerbitan scopus/era, buku penyelidikan, penulisan dalam bahasa melayu, penerbitan lain-lain, anugerah bintang & pingat peringkat persekutuan dan negeri, anugerah-anugerah lain, khidmat luar, khidmat dalam.