1. Dato' Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Al Masrie bin Sheikh, the untold story.
Assalamualaikum and hello everyone. My name is _____________________ from
SK Sindumin, Sipitang, Sabah. I am 10 years old. Today I want to share a story
about “Dato' Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Al Masrie bin Sheikh”. I know, I know!
He is a very well-known person. Everyone knows him already. Most of the students
have compiled quite numbers of information about him for school projects too. But
worry not, I promise you, this story will not be as boring as you are imagining!
To begin my story, I would love to tell a short introduction of his background.
Did you know that he is an orthopaedic surgeon? Yes! He is a surgeon and the first
Malaysian astronaut. Did you know what an orthopaedic surgeon do? Well,
orthopaedic is related to the branch of medicine dealing with correction of deformities
of bones and muscle. So, long story short, Dato’ Dr. Muszaphar is a doctor who is
treating and fixing bones or muscle of people.
He is a son of Ustaz Muhaidin. He has an Arab and Malay descent. Did he
speak Arabic? Well, I don’t know. You can ask him. But, I know he can speak Malay
and English quite well. Dato’ Dr. Muszaphar was a bright student. He went to Maktab
Rendah Sains MARA in Muar, one of the excellent schools in Malaysia. He earned
his degree from Kasturba Medical College in Manipal India.
On 10 October 2007, Dato’ Dr. Muszaphar launched to the International
Space Station aboard Soyuz TMA-11 with 16 crew members. He flew under an
agreement with Russia through the Angkasawan Program. He returned to earth on
21 October 2007.
What did he exactly do during his 10 days 20 hours and 14 minutes in space?
Dato’ Dr. Muszaphar performed experiments relating to the characteristics and
growth of liver cancer and leukaemia cells. He was also involved in conducting
experiments about the crystallisation of various proteins and microbes in space. It
sounds complicated isn’t it? Well, it is.
The experiments relating to liver cancer, leukaemia cells and microbes
contain outrageous number of benefits either for the purpose of general science or
medical research as a whole. On the other hand, the experiments relating to the
crystallisation of proteins, lipases in this case, will directly benefit local industries.
2. Another fun fact, Lipase is a type of protein enzymes used in the
manufacturing of a diverse range of products from textiles to cosmetics. The
opportunity to grow these in space means a possibility for Malaysian scientists to
crack at an industry worth MYR 7 billion worldwide. Mind blowing!!
But!! The most important question here, did the experiments succeeded?
It did! Thank God! If not, it would be such a waste. On 21st October 2007, He
managed to bring home the specimens safe and sound despite the Soyuz TMA-10
spacecraft’s rough landing. The protein crystals were sent straight to Osaka
University while the osteoblast and Huvec were brought to Russia’s Institute of Bio
Medical Problems before being flown to Malaysia. On the other hand, the cancer and
microbe cell went straight to Malaysian Laboratories.
What are the results of the experiments? Well, that would be another story for
another time. It must be tiring and confusing to hear so many terminology and
scientific words. Thank you for spending a moment to watch my video, that is all for
now, adios my friends.
3. Atok’s first car.
Assalamualaikum and hello everyone. My name is _____________________ from
SK Sindumin, Sipitang, Sabah. I am 10 years old. Today I want to share a story
about “Atok’s First Car”.
Technology comes and goes every second nowadays. Today’s invention might be a
memory tomorrow. I remember, my father told me a story about how his father got
his first car back in the old days. Atok, my grandfather’s was 45 years old that time.
my father, as a five-year-old kid was super excited when Atok drove a grey Proton
Saga home.
Atok was not a rich man. He worked hard every single day and night to earn
money. Atok was a farmer. He had a huge paddy field in
Malaysia’s first national car, the Proton Saga, made its debut on July 9, 1985,
and Proton is unveiling an Anniversary Edition this year on that date. How did the
landmark car get its name, though? As revealed by Proton through its Facebook
page, this was an endeavour that dated back to 1984 when the company held the
nationwide ‘Name the National Car Contest’, and which received more than 100,000
entries.
The winning entry was submitted by Staff Sergeant Ismail Jaafar from
Penang, who is also known as Sergeant Saga. The name that would come to grace
the country’s first national car emerged from a game of Scrabble, said Ismail, where
he saw the words ‘safety’, ‘achievement’, ‘greatness’ and ‘ability’. From these, the
Saga name was derived from the first letters of those words.
The winning name appealed to the contest judges because ‘Saga’ could
easily be pronounced by speakers of any language, and was without any negative
connotation in both Malay and English languages, said Proton.
Beyond the wordplay, the name also refers to the hard red seeds of the Saga tree, or abrus
precatorius, which is commonly found in Malaysia. This tree denotes stability, endurance and
courage, says Proton, while in English it stands for heroic achievement, as well as a measurement
4. associated with gold, and therefore representing a symbol of value. In China, the saga seeds have
been a symbol of love, the carmaker said.
Staff Sergeant Ismail Jaafar was gifted a Proton Saga of his very own as a prize for his contest win,
presented by the fourth prime minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad on September 1,
1985. The car hasn’t remained in the household permanently, however, as Ismail sold the Saga in
order to support the furthering of his children’s education as well as for the repayment of a home
loan, Astro Awani reported.
Ismail passed away on January 12, 2018 at home, succumbing to health complications which
included heart disease, kidney problems and diabetes, according to a report by The Star at the time.
Before Ismail passed away, he had wished to track down the Saga which he had won from the
naming contest due to its sentimental value, according to widow Sariah Abdul Rahman.
The Proton Saga seen in the gallery here is the Megavalve version introduced in 1990 with 1.3 litre
and 1.5 litre 12-valve engines, larger grille openings, ‘Megavalve’ script and ‘Saga 12V’ badging,
while safety kit was improved with a third brake light and rear three-point seat belts. This was followed
by an all-new version in 2008, featuring a Intake Air-Fuel Module (IAFM) variable-length manifold-
equipped 1.3 litre engine with either a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic.
