The Iceman Cometh - Raikkonen wins!

A fitting end to a great season of Formula 1 racing. It's been awhile since the title have gone down the wire till the last race of the season. Finally, the driver many claimed as "nearly there" won the Driver's Championship on the final race. I believe that the best and deserved driver won.

A close race to the end. Kimi with 110 pts to take the crown. Hamilton & Alonso 109 pts each, but Hamilton came in 2nd, because he won more 2nd places than Alonso. Truly fitting, with the rookie upstaging the crybaby.

Even till the end, there is still controversy with BMW and Williams having irregularities in car fuel. McLaren is still appealling. Frankly, I believe Kimi deserves the crown.

The flying Finn have finally won it. Go Kimi!

Wah! We are now a space power

An analysis in the Star on our "space programme." I can only say, my thoughts exactly.

Wah! We are now a space power

ANALYSIS BY AZMI SHAROM

YOU might not know this, but there have been a lot of unhappy rumblings in Malaysian society regarding our space programme.

Actually, that is not accurate. We don’t really have a “space programme”, do we? After all, it’s not like we are pushing the technological frontiers and designing cutting-edge manned spacecraft.

No, to be more precise, we have an astronaut-training programme. Whoa, whoa, that is not true either. We didn’t train anyone; we paid the Russians to train our astronaut.

Oh, blow it all. That is still wrong. He is not an astronaut; he is a cosmonaut. The terms, according to Nasa, mean different things but, according to the Russians (and us), they mean the same thing.

Oh, this is all so confusing. All right, all right, let us start over again.

You might not know this, but there have been a lot of unhappy rumblings in Malaysian society regarding our paying the Russians buckets of money – the amount of which the Malaysian public is not 100% sure about – to train a bloke to be a spaceman (as accurate a definition I can think of, because he is a man and he is in space).

Yes, it is true. This wonderful achievement of the country – to find a handsome, clean-cut, healthy, intelligent fellow and pay someone else to get him into space – is being sneered at in some cynical quarters.

If you happen to be one of those people, I say to you: tsk, tsk, tsk. Where is your sense of patriotism? Where is your child-like optimism?

Going into space is a big deal. Just ask Dennis Tito and Mark Shuttleworth, two space tourists who did not have the luxury of buying Russian jet fighters to contra the costs of their cosmic flights. Coincidentally, one of the nasty things people are calling our Malaysian spaceman is “space tourist”.

For your information, unlike the two gentlemen mentioned above, our spaceman is not a tourist. No, no, no. He is going to do experiments, important experiments.

Apart from important experiments, he is going to be doing so much good in other ways. For example, he has opened the doors of opportunity for ordinary Malaysians. One of these days, I might go to space. To conduct experiments.

Don’t laugh because it is possible, for if the good doctor has proven anything, it is that if the Government is willing to spend a bit of money, anyone can go to space. Kind of like a galactic AirAsia.

Let us not forget all those little schoolchildren who are being inspired as you read this. They are going to know that Malaysia Boleh.

We can do all sorts of things. We are now a space power!

The next time their school computer lab collapses, or their teachers get demoralised due to poor pay, they can tell themselves that it all does not matter because we are a space power!

Last but not least, the spaceman is going to land on earth brimming with new scientific know-how. I am sure he will be able to use this newfound knowledge to help the country.

There is a great deal of high-tech equipment around that keeps malfunctioning. The traffic lights on Jalan Universiti, Kuala Lumpur, used to have a countdown, but it doesn’t work now.

And all that experience with space station to earth video conferencing will come in mighty useful in Dataran Merdeka, where the super high-tech giant TV screen broke down just when eager patriotic Malaysians gathered to watch the Soyuz rocket blast off.

So, all you naysayer types are very wrong and misguided. You should be like me and embrace our spaceman programme. Sit back and think of the glory that is “Malaysia the Space Power” while you unwrap a Raya ketupat.

Wait a minute; that is a great idea for a space experiment. How does unwrapping Raya ketupats fare in zero gravity ??

Dr Azmi Sharom is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Malaya.

Electoral roll is ‘clean’

This was in the Star.

Electoral roll is ‘clean’

THE Election Commission has assured that the electoral roll in the next polls is clean, Berita Harian reported.

Its secretary Datuk Kamaruzaman Mohd Noor said that throughout the year, the commission had inspected and cleaned up the electoral roll.

Earlier, it was reported that some assistant registration officers had without authorisation allegedly moved the names of voters to other areas.

He added that the inspection and verification of names and other details were transparent.

The primary electoral roll had a list of voters verified earlier this year while additional electoral rolls contained the list of newly registered voters and those who had their addresses changed.

This statement is probably as synonymous as Nazri saying there's a witness protection program.

Points to ponder 2 - Globalisation

I just came out from a meeting. The meeting was attended by 2 Japanese, 1 Australian, 2 Malaysian, 1 Indian, 1 Singaporean; about a job in Singapore done by Japanese, Singaporeans, Australian, Malaysians, Thais, Bangladeshis, Chinese and Indians.

I wonder is that globalisation ...

Points to ponder 1

Was chatting with a client of mine over dinner a couple of months back. He was telling us that he was an avid diver. For holidays, he goes diving at diving spots around the world.

It just occurred to me today, we were in a meeting today; that even though he goes outdoors for diving, his skin is so fair it even puts Snow White to shame. How is it that some people can hang out in the sun so much and still manage to keep their skin so fair?

Another mishap, another case of evading responsibility

Last weekend, a ferry heading for Pulau Tioman caught fire; in the end, four lives were claimed. Instead of working to mitigate problems of this happening again, our marine department has moved quickly to claim that the ferry had no license, this and that.

I am really surprised at the speed that department has moved to clear its name and responsibility of the incident at hand. Frankly, I am kinda fedup.

A few months ago, when an accident involving an express bus claimed lives and raised questions, another department moved quick to claim that the bus driver had numerous summons, bad records, etc. Immediately, it would seem that the whole responsibility of the tragedy fell on the driver and the bus company.

Is that how it should be? Frankly, the main bulk of the responsibility is on the relevant departments. The attention was shifted to why did the bus company allow such a driver to operate a bus or why the ferry company still ran the ferry services.

The real question should be why are the departments allowing bus drivers like that (if it is true of the charges at all) to be operating and why has the marine department not clamped down on such illegal operations (if it really has no license in the first place)?

Do not wait for a tragedy to happen to start doing your job. You are being paid to look after the safety of the public. It is not your job to only investigate accidents; but to mitigate and prevent accidents. Do not look for others to blame, look at your own faults and improve. Remember, I am not asking, I am telling you it's your job!

A lesson in Bahasa Malaysia

I could remember vaguely when I was still in school and learning Bahasa Malaysia. One word that I remember learning was the word 'angkasawan'.

Strangely, I recalled that the word angkasawan directly translated to English was astronaut. Of course at that time, there were not too many words that we analysed deepy. We were just too busy remembering words to pass exams.

An angkasawan or an astronaut?

Lately, I just found out that angkasawan may have another meaning. It can be translated into "space flight participant" or "space traveller". Actually if you look at the word angkasawan properly, they are not way off either. Angkasawan is derived from the word angkasa, which means space. So an angkasawan could be a person who travels in/to space; or just goes to space; or studies space. So, it's still politically correct to name our space traveller an angkasawan.

What is the difference between an astronaut and a space flight participant? Well, maybe there's no difference, or maybe an astronaut could be someone who job is actually trained to fly to space; or someone who pilots the shuttle; or someone who does actual space studies. Maybe English and Bahasa Malaysia may differ slghtly in translation.

Selamat Hari Raya

It's a few more hours till Hari Raya. Let me take this opportunity to wish all muslim friends, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

Food for thoughts

Duh! I don't need to be an expert to know that
No wonder they told me not to drink before the trip
How much for the other half?

Hmmm, looks familiar.

Maybe they sell bibles

Malaysian in Space

Today Malaysia will make history; to have the first Malaysian in space. Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor will become the first Malaysian to go to space on board the Russian Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft. The launch is scheduled at 9.22pm (Malaysian time).

It is said that the good doctor will be celebrating raya in space and having satay & kuih. Probably a first for that. Most importantly, he will be doing some research up there. Please take this opportunity to engage in something more fruitful.

According to the Star, Malaysia is paying for the voyage as part of a billion-dollar purchase of Russian fighter jets. If it is a buy some jets, free one ride to space, then it is quite ok.

But if we are paying millions to send someone to space because some country has done it, we must do it also; then I say it's a waste of good money. Scientists are going to space to do some actual research and studies for the future. We should not be sending someone up just for the sake of sending someone; then while he's there, let him do some research.

It's not that much of a matter of face. Sure, there are some billionaires that paid millions to go to space, maybe as a holiday. Is that what we are doing? Sending someone up for a million dollar holiday trip?

Why? So that we can say proudly, "We sent someone to space." USA did it 30 years ago. I rather we sent someone up because we deserve to send someone up and we do some actual contribution to the research and development of space exploration.

Anyway, it's still an achievement. All the best to our angkasawan, Dr Sheikh Muszaphar. Make Malaysia proud.