While congratulations are no doubt due "doctor and part-time model" Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor on his selection from thousands of applicants for a ride on a Russian rocket - and he has had to train hard to prepare himself for the trip - I find it a bit far-fetched to hail him as Malaysia's first astronaut.

Sure, he'll be the first Malaysian to venture into space. But more as a passenger than as a pilot or scientist, as his trip is a free bonus for Malaysia's billion-dollar purchase of 18 Sukhoi 30-MKM fighter jets, not part of any national programme of cosmic exploration.

So far from it, in fact, that at first it looked like an exercise in comic exploration, involving such activities as top-spinning and teh tarik preparation.