Asia-Pacific Features

Mar 10, 2008, 18:50 GMT

Indonesians pray for Obama to win US presidency

Jakarta - While the US presidential campaign is raging, many Indonesians have made up their minds that candidate Barack Obama would make a great president, with his childhood time in the country making him a local favourite. Obama, 46, was enrolled in two primary schools in Jakarta in the late 1960s. 'We are very proud to have one of our students being a candidate in the United States presidential race,' Kuwadiyanto, headmaster of the SDN (State Elementary School) Besuki, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. SDN Besuki is a highly regarded public school which accepts students from various religious backgrounds. Subjects taught are in accordance with the national curriculum and non-Muslim students receive religious instruction in their own religion in a separate classroom. Obama, who was born in the US state of Hawaii, moved to Indonesia at age 6 after his American mother, Ann Dunham, married Muslim Indonesian Lolo Soetoro following the end of her marriage to Obama's Kenyan father. Attending schools in Jakarta until age 10, Obama returned to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents. 'This is absolutely unique that the US presidential campaign relates on a personal level to Indonesians,' Kuwadiyanto said. He said that since the news came out that Obama had attended the school, he has been interviewed by many foreign journalists. 'We were really surprised to hear the news,' Kuwadiyanto said, adding that he hoped Obama's childhood experiences would help him bring Indonesia and the US closer if he becomes president. Teachers, schoolmates and friends in Indonesia remember the young Obama as a smart student. The SDN Besuki, now known as SDN Menteng 01, is located in the posh Menteng residential area, one of the most affluent parts of Jakarta. Founded in 1934 by the Dutch colonial administration for the children of the Dutch colonists and Indonesian nobility, the school has attracted mostly middle-to-upper-class students, among them several children and grandchildren of the late Indonesian dictator Suharto. Today the school, which has 474 students, is one of the country's model schools and part of the Association of South-East Asian Nations' coalition of model schools. 'I wasn't aware Obama was ever enrolled here before the news surfaced - after he won a number of (Democratic primary election) states in February,' Kuwadiyanto said. Achmad Solichin, vice principal of the SDN Menteng school, expressed hope that if Obama is elected president, he would bring a new perspective on religion, in particular Islam. 'Although he never embraced Islam, at least he knew about Islam in Indonesia,' he said. Before attending the SD Besuki school, Obama went to a Catholic school, Franciscus Assisi, where an old document showed he enrolled as a Muslim, the religion of his stepfather. The school required that each student choose one of the five sanctioned religions when registering - Muslim, Catholic or Protestant, Buddhist and Hindu. 'He spent three years here in this school,' said Israela Darmawan, 64, Obama's first-grade teacher in 1968. 'We recognize him as Barry Soetoro because he was registered here as Barry Soetoro.' Darmawan said he remembered Obama for his physical characteristics - exceptionally tall, with black skin and curly hair. 'He was really different from the others - tall and heavy. Obama was a bright kid, had sharp skills in math. At the beginning, Obama seemed a little shy but he quickly picked up the local language,' Darmawan said. 'He wrote an essay titled, I Want to Become President.' ' 'We will be very proud,' if Obama is elected president, Darmawan said. A group of about 20 of Obama's former Indonesian school friends early this month formed an Obama fan club as a way of showing their support for the Illinois senator. Obama also has a following among the current generation of Indonesian school children. 'I will pray for Obama to win the Democratic nomination and eventually become the US president,' said Joy Power, a 10-year-old pupil at Francisus Assisi. Many Indonesians have expressed hope that if Obama is elected president he would be able to improve the relations between Indonesia and the US. Although Jakarta has close security ties with Washington, a number of policies of President George W Bush's administration, particularly in the Middle-East, are unpopular in predominantly Muslim Indonesia. One of Obama's old school friends, Emirsyah Satar, said he remembered Obama as a good sportsman, particularly at football playing marbles. 'When he spent his school time at SD Besuki, Obama was one of the best players of marbles and football,' said Satar, who is also the president-director of the national flag carrier, Garuda Indonesia. 'This (ability) must help him win the presidential nomination and eventually become the US president.'

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SP4: I think Rush said that, too!Mar 10th, 2008 - 21:07:06

There are lots...and lots.... of muslims who wish he would win!

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Barack Hussein ObamaMar 11th, 2008 - 00:51:44

sure, he went to madrassah in Indonesia.

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tonny from belgiumMar 11th, 2008 - 09:49:07

When spreading your nauseous smear ,keep your posts as short as possible SP4,try to avoid clarity if possible ,smear only works if you insinuate things without defining them,SP4 is the champ in that .Neocon way of conducting politics ?

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Thanks Tonny from Belgium....Mar 11th, 2008 - 14:26:03

SP4 is a raving racist his rants is just that, no vision, no clarity, he is just airing his venom of racism.

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HeatherMar 11th, 2008 - 14:49:39

There are lots and lots of intelligent people who wish he could win. He is a brilliant candidate, with a culturally diverse background.

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affirmative action election!Mar 11th, 2008 - 20:34:05

yes, those that judge books by their covers, farc, latin terrorists, muslim terrorists, ayers, the weathermen, nation of islam, racist blacks, greivance mongers, schoolchildren, felons, and communists everywhere want him (the descendent of arab slave traders, not blacks) to win.

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SP4: again...Mar 12th, 2008 - 01:14:08

...none of that makes me wrong. I contend, as the article above does, that lots...and lots..of muslims would wish for him to win.

What does THAT tell you? Go figure it out, Tonny and then get back to us.

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SP4: you knowMar 12th, 2008 - 01:16:47

...he's real chummy with a known member of the weathermen, who is on record as liking the idea of bombing people and buildings.

This is a fact.

His church has a pecular philosophy and a preacher who embraces Farrakan.

This is a fact.

If the shoe fits....

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well, sp-idiot ...Mar 12th, 2008 - 02:12:30

there are lots of people who are chummy with people who like to bomb buildings and paople. These same people love the idea of waterboarding other people. These people are call neocons. Republican is another word for them. Inbred, brain-dead, mother fudging hillbilly is yet phrase for these cretins. These mental Neanderthals are running (ruining?) your country.

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SP4: well, dickheadMar 12th, 2008 - 03:36:55

...they don't hang around with old scumbag weathermen who like to bomb OUR buildings, and the folks who got waterboarded had it coming.

Some of us have picked a side. Obama is not one of them.

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same question as usual..Mar 12th, 2008 - 07:09:28

Will the next President of the United States of America, and members of Congress and The Senate end up owing such a Debt of gratitude to professional lobbyists, the wealthy special interest backers and Big Business, that things just carry on like now?

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tonny from belgiumMar 12th, 2008 - 07:17:54

To put it mildly SP4 is just a compulsary liar,I gyuess that makes him wrong .But lies mean nothing,what is worse are silly insinuations.Edspecially the kind SP4 is using.He does not even dare to express himself with clarity ,like sayinbg Obama is a terrorist firend,because is has been in Indonesia .Every person would of course react with indignation to thjat.So he says....every muslim wants him to win.What do I mean...figure it out yourself,Tonny....Yeah ,I'm figutingout you are smearing,and due lack of anything substantial for that you just insinuate things.In other words SP4 you are a dishonest person,the cause you defend is too.It is called torture,abuse of human rights,tyranny,world domination through military supremacy,etc,etc,the typical neocon ideology.It just isn't working,as the rest of the world is opposed.People like you just managed to isolate the USA and have it quarantined on the international political arena,awaiting new political leaders with more moral authority and credibility.Just know that nobody can build an empire based on lies ,like Bush used in Iraq.
Now that is clarity,can you match that?Try criticizing Obama with something else than smear,let's find out if you know your files...

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