Obama fever hits the world

After eight years of presidency under George W. Bush, two wars and an economic recession later, the world looked again to the United States as a potential beacon of hope, change and progression with the election of the phenomenally popular African-American senator, Barack Obama, as the new U.S. president.

For many it may have been hard to imagine that a black boy born to a Kenyan father and a white American mother, who studied in Jakarta, could ever win over the United States and the world to take the presidency.

It is indeed true that Anak Menteng (a boy from Menteng in Jakarta) Obama has become a symbol of hope and inspiration around the world. The Obama fever has spread across the globe, be it on the streets of Jakarta, in the bars of Berlin or villages in Africa, his election as the 44th President of the United States on Wednesday triggered jubilation the world over.

-- JP/Veeramalla Anjaiah