Malaysia’s first astronaut?

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March 14, 2006

Malaysia’s first astronaut?Science and Technology

An engineer named Vanajah Siva Subramaniam is one of the four finalists (and only woman) vying to become Malaysia’s first astronaut:

The Right Stuff

An ethnic Indian woman was on Tuesday named among four candidates short listed to become Malaysia’s first astronaut and travel to the International Space Station next year.

S Vanajah Siva Subramaniam, 35, will travel along with three Malay men to the Russian Space Agency in Moscow soon to undergo medical and technical tests that will establish which of them will take part in the scientific expedition on board the International Space Station in 2007.

The three men are Malaysia Airlines pilot Mohammed Faiz Kamaluddin, 34; army dentist Faiz Khaleed, 26; and Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, a 34-year-old hospital medical officer.

The four were chosen from more than 11,000 candidates who had submitted their applications in a process that started in 2003.

Vanajah is an engineer by profession. She was the only woman to be short-listed. All the three men are from the dominant Malay community, while Vanajah belongs to the ethnic Indian community, which comprises 8 per cent of Malaysia’s 26-million-strong population. [Link]

Her selection of course is dependent upon whether or not Malaysians think she is too sexy for the job of astronaut (I thought astronauts were REQUIRED to be sexy) . The astronaut who makes the final cut is scheduled to spend an expedition aboard the ISS sometime in 2007 (although I will bet money that the mission will be delayed at least a year).

Vanajah has previously said she hopes to inspire other Malaysian women to participate in science-related projects, saying her achievement proved that women could compete alongside men in rigorous trials.

The finalists have endured a battery of physical and psychological examinations, and officials said the remaining four were chosen on the basis of physical fitness, personality and preparedness, including family support. [Link]

I also found an article that describes some of those psychological tests that the Malaysian astronaut candidates were put through:

After extended periods of physical and mental stress, including sleep deprivation, being roused from a nice warm bed at 3am for a run followed by a swim, it becomes virtually impossible for anyone to continue pretending to be Mr Nice Guy.

Candidates were made to spend hours in pitch-dark jungle conditions to gauge whether they could endure long periods of isolation and sensory deprivation.
“It can be frightening if one is not used to the jungle but the candidates were never in any real danger ? what they did not know was that there were commandos assigned to watch over them at all times,” reveals Dr Teoh.

abhi on March 14, 2006 05:56 PM in News, Profiles, Science and Technology · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post

21 comments

1 · Southie-Dadi on March 14, 2006 06:11 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

Although I see your point in alluding to the earlier post regarding desis in Malaysia, Vanajah would not be subject to the selection requirement as she isn't Bangladeshi, but a Malaysian Indian. That's not to say that she's not sexy though.

2 · Manish Vij on March 14, 2006 06:20 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

Candidates were made to spend hours in pitch-dark jungle conditions to gauge whether they could endure long periods of isolation and sensory deprivation.

We call this 'the tech industry.'

3 · metric ang on March 14, 2006 06:29 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

""Candidates were made to spend hours in pitch-dark jungle conditions to gauge whether they could endure long periods of isolation and sensory deprivation.""
"We call this 'the tech industry.'"

ha ha ha ha!

4 · Abhi on March 14, 2006 06:29 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

Although I see your point in alluding to the earlier post regarding desis in Malaysia, Vanajah would not be subject to the selection requirement as she isn't Bangladeshi, but a Malaysian Indian.

If you read Ennis' earlier post you'll see that part of the reason that Bangladeshis were deemed too sexy was because of Bollywood, which is also not Bangladhesi. It is therefore reasonale that Malaysians were probably conflating Bangladeshis, Indians, and Pakistanis to some extent.

5 · dhaavak on March 14, 2006 06:49 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

Unbeknownst to the vast majority of the indian diaspora...

Dr. Ravi Rajaseelan from the respected Banaras Hindu University, on one of his expeditions into the Malaysian jungle came across a cenotaph. The site was next to a demolished temple to a Goddess whose form was suggestive of ancient Hindu practices. What was interesting to Dr. Ravi was the script at the base of the cenotaph. Though wasted by the elements, the writing was legible and vaguely familiar. Although in the Tamil script the inscription was in a dialect unfamiliar to him. The fascination with this writing lead to painstaking research from 2003-2006. The breakthrough in Dr. Ravi's effort was when he came across a large slab hidden under the undergrowth that captured the life history of the person once buried there. This was the Rosetta stone of Malaysia and finally unveiled the mysterious figure who has come to be known as, as he was in the past as the "king of the hills". The native folk lore captures this person as the founding father of their tribe. Over time of course, the tamil "malai", standing for "hills" in Tamil got corrupted to Malay, from where the country and the people get their relatively modern name.

You can read more about it here. But my point is, everything came from india, everything. Enjoy.

6 · razib_the_atheist on March 14, 2006 07:05 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

does everyone here know that mahathir mohammaed, the old man of malaysian politics, has a tamil muslim father? i have a friend whose father was a newspaper man in kuala lumpur, and he heard that it was important not to mention because of politics....

7 · dhaavak on March 14, 2006 07:10 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

before this escalates and appears as a TOI scoop someday, I want to state that #5 is fiction. I was bored. Sorry.

8 · Guru Gulab Khatri on March 14, 2006 07:10 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

does everyone here know that mahathir mohammaed, the old man of malaysian politics, has a tamil muslim father? i have a friend whose father was a newspaper man in kuala lumpur, and he heard that it was important not to mention because of politics....

Yes and Anwar Ibrahim also has some indian in his ancestory so both let that issue slide. In mahathirs case it is more visible.

9 · ashvin on March 14, 2006 07:29 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

does everyone here know that mahathir mohammaed, the old man of malaysian politics, has a tamil muslim father?

I heard Kerala (and that's what wikipedia says).

10 · razib_the_atheist on March 14, 2006 07:37 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

I heard Kerala (and that's what wikipedia says).

yeah, you might be right. my friend is chinese malaysian, i don't think he would distinguished. if mahathir's father grew in malaysia in the indian community though he would probably be tamil identified.

11 · Pattie Kaur on March 14, 2006 08:03 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

An ethnic Indian woman

interesting, what's an un-ethnic indian woman?

good luck to ms. subramaniam

12 · Janeofalltrades on March 14, 2006 08:33 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

before this escalates and appears as a TOI scoop someday, I want to state that #5 is fiction. I was bored. Sorry.

Holy shit Dhaavak. Was it cut and paste fiction or one that you created? If the latter you better write a novel soon!!

13 · chick pea on March 14, 2006 08:33 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

i'm excited for her and hope she makes it..... losing kalpana chawla in the columbia disaster really saddened me..i'm glad another female of indian origin is taking the courage to try to make the amazing journey to space...wow... you go girl...

14 · Southie-Dadi on March 14, 2006 08:35 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

Abhi,

Let's put it this way, the article was clear that it was merely Bangladeshis who were being subjected to this standard of sexiness. There's no conflation whatsoever in regards to lumping all desis together, i.e Indians, Pakistanis, etc. In fact, if Vanajah, (a Malaysian born of Indian ethnicity) would ever be discriminated against, it would be based on the Bumiputra clause.

15 · maisnon on March 14, 2006 08:35 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

if mahathir's father grew in malaysia in the indian community though he would probably be tamil identified.

Enh, not necessarily - everyone on my dad's side is Malaysian Malayalee. It's a minority within a minority, if you will, but still a sizeable community.

Also, the statistic placing the Indian community in Malaysia at 8% really surprised me. But, I think that I have spent most of my time in fairly urban areas (KL, Penang, etc.), so there may be a higher concentration of Indian Malaysians.

16 · Southie-Dadi on March 14, 2006 08:42 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

As far as I know Mahathir's grandfather was from the Malabari-Muslim community, referred to colloquially as "Kaaka-maargal". I'm not sure if it's a derisive epithet, if it is...I'm very sorry.

17 · dhaavak on March 14, 2006 09:11 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

before this escalates and appears as a TOI scoop someday, I want to state that #5 is fiction. I was bored. Sorry.
Holy shit Dhaavak. Was it cut and paste fiction or one that you created? If the latter you better write a novel soon!!

Thanks JOAT, it will happen someday - am arranging my palette for now.

18 · dogday on March 14, 2006 11:22 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

An ethnic Indian woman

interesting, what's an un-ethnic indian woman?

The phrase translates as "a non-Malay Malaysian" (or, as my cousins put it, "a second-class citizen of the subgroup 'Indian'"), and invariably pops up when issues of national pride are at stake; "ethnic Indian" makes clear that Subramaniam is not what the dominant population considers "Malaysian" or rather, a "true" representative of Malaysia... Not so cool, but then again, not so different than here (if I was the first person to fly to Mercury, I bet the NYT would mention something about my Indian "roots" in the same breath as calling me the "first American" to get burned to death on another planet).

19 · Suhail on March 15, 2006 02:45 AM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

Man..we Injuns are like everywhere or what? Paging Razib: how long before desis are the only genes floating around? I mean seriously, these days you can't use the men's room at even the most godforsaken airports without encountering five desis ahead of you in line. At Paris airport I shiznot saw as many desis as citizens of Allied nations combined together. Frankfurt airport has already started making announcements in Hindi and Tamil.

Congrats to Vanajah. She totally reminds me of my social sciences teacher from school.

20 · Parikshit on March 15, 2006 06:50 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

how long before desis are the only genes floating around?

Did you not see the Russel Peters video?!

21 · Pattie Kaur on March 16, 2006 12:18 AM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

thanks, dogday.

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