Obama Statue In Jakarta Causes Controversy

“Pulang Kampung nih (I am back to my hometown).”

That was the first sentence of President Barack Obama’s speech when he visited Jakarta, Indonesia, after so many years.

President Barack Obama has a good connection and memory with Indonesia, especially Jakarta (the capital city), the place where he spent his childhood for four years in the city in 1967. He started his new life with his mother and his step-dad Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian man.

The city of central Jakarta announced the statue of little Obama, which was initiated by Jakarta-based Friends of Obama Foundation, in 2009.

According to the Jakarta Post, the statue stands two meters tall. One of its sides is adorned with an adapted quote by former U.S. first lady Eleanor Roosevelt: “The future belongs to those who believe in the power of their dreams”

“This statue is designed to inspired Indonesia’s children, to tell them they can be anyone they want to be,” said Ron Mullers, chairman of the Jakarta-based Friends of Obama Foundation, which raised the money for the statute, to the Post.

The controversy has been raised about the establishment of the statue. Some people said the statue should not be placed in public area. They suggest it’s more appropriate to build a local hero at the park in Jakarta.This controversy led to the court after several people filed a class-action lawsuit to the against the Jakarta governor, the Central Jakarta mayor and the Jakarta Parks and Cemeteries Agency.

To avoid the controversy, in February 2010, the Foundation removed the statue to Menteng Park to the state elementary school SDN 01 Menteng, where Obama was once the student.

Although the statue had caused controversy, not all Indonesian people know about it. EvCC Students from Indonesia Abizar Furqoni and Alvin Haryanto, who lived in the border of Jakarta, said both of them never heard anything about the statue.

Markay Omar, EvCC student who lived in Jakarta, said he wasn’t aware with the statue until the Clipper told him about it. He said he knows that President Obama spent his childhood in Jakarta, Indonesia, but he doesn’t know anything about it. However, he thinks to build Obama’s statue in the park in Jakarta is not a good way.

International students at EvCC Saravine Naitingale, Markay Omar,
Alvin Haryanto, and Abizar Furqoni weigh in on the controversy
of the Obama statue located in Jakarta.

“He was not our (Indonesian) president,” he said, “I don’t think it’s appropriate to have his statue in Jakarta.”

Saravine Naitingale, an EvCC running start student, said she knows about the statue because it is located in Menteng Park, an elite neighborhood in Jakarta, which is behind her high school.

“The statue is quite famous around the park,” she said. “And people often go to see the statue or just hang out in the park.”

Naitingale said it is good for Indonesia to have some reward for the President Obama, but she thinks it’s not necessary to have the statue in public space, like Menteng Park. She pointed out the security reason, because sometimes there are vandalism activities in the park.

“I think it will be great if they place the statue in museum,” she said. “I would like to recommend them to move it to safer place.”

See this collection of pictures of the Obama statue.

Story by Ali Salmande