Space trip a 'realisation of nation's aspirations'

KUALA LUMPUR: When Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Sheikh Mustapha successfully docked at the International Space Station last year, he was not merely fulfilling one man's dream.

Malaysia's first angkasawan was also realising the nation's aspirations to venture into the last frontier, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said.

Paraphrasing the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, Najib said: "Let no one belittle or deny this achievement. It may be a small step for Dr Sheikh Muszaphar, but for Malaysia, as a nation, it is giant leap forward."

Najib said this at the book launch of Reaching for the Stars, written by Dr Sheikh Muszaphar's younger brother, Sheikh Mustapha Shukor Al-Masrie, who died last year.

The book not only provides a personal account of the bond between the brothers, it also chronicles the angkasawan's journey from the time he was short-listed, trained, selected, and subsequently made his historic trip to space.

Mustapha, or "Ajil", 32, died without regaining consciousness after knocking into a pillar outside a restaurant in Jalan Klang Lama here on Oct 26.

Najib said the government's decision to send a Malaysian to space was a right one, as it had captured the imagination of those who dared to dream.

To underline this fact, Najib pointed out that before Dr Sheikh Muszaphar's space odyssey, almost all of the students who received awards from him would normally list, among others, medicine, engineering and law as the profession that they would most like to venture into. "

But not anymore. Now, many would say that they are aiming to be an angkasawan."

Dr Sheikh Muszaphar said his brother's death was a tragic moment for the family, more so for him personally as it happened just hours before he was due to return to Earth."

Among the five (siblings), the two of us shared this unbreakable bond since we were young. Today (the book launch) is not about me, it is about my brother."

His father, Datuk Sheikh Mustapha Syed Shukor, in his speech, spoke about how he had trained his five boys to face the hard knocks in life. "

Words cannot describe the feelings of a father who had experienced a joyous occasion and a tragic moment, both at the same time."

In Reaching for the Stars, Sheikh Mustapha wrote about his perspective on his brother's journey to space in the first part of the book.

The second part is a tribute to the author himself from his parents, his wife and four brothers.