Cooking the Obama Connection
WEEKENDER | Fri, 07/24/2009 1:51 PM |
The ingredients are in place for an unprecedented relationship between the superpower now leaving a better taste in everyone’s mouth and the archipelago that gave the world nutmeg and cloves.
With former Jakarta schoolboy Barack Hussein Obama leading the resurgent United States, and Indonesia now set after the presidential election, it’s time to begin cooking up ways to set the table for new ventures and adventures.
To enlighten those who have been living in a Kalimantan cave or just returned from the jungles of Jambi, let me remind you just how special it is to have a US president who actually knows more than how to say “Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono”.
To expand on a list previously compiled in the December 2008 WEEKENDER, Obama will be the first leader of the world’s mightiest nation:
- To have stayed more than a week in Jakarta.
- To have been awakened by the morning call to Islamic prayers and his mother’s extra lessons in English.
- To have a sister born in Indonesia.
- To know that you don’t ride a “baik”.
- To have been listed as “Muslim” when registering for grade school.
- To have spent several months in Bali finishing up a book that would help him win the presidency.
- To have a mother that many older Indonesians respected and loved before anyone ever heard of “Barry” Obama.
The closest living relative to the world’s most influential head of state is Maya Soetoro-Ng. She was born to Obama’s mother Ann and Indonesian stepfather Lolo nine years after her brother. She has been living and working as a schoolteacher in Honolulu, Hawaii.
She has thought about joining Obama in Washington, a once-in-anyone’s-lifetime opportunity to live and work alongside the man who is quickly erasing much of the anti-American sentiment in many parts of the world.
I talked with her shortly after her brother’s election victory in November 2008, made much more emotional with the passing of their grandmother Madelyn Dunham a few days earlier.
It was a time to reflect. And to imagine how their mother would have felt if she had lived to see this milestone moment in history.
“Well, she knew what an amazing son she had sired, and I think that all of us are surprised by all the pop culture emanating from this event,” said Soetoro-Ng, who speaks better Indonesian than her older brother.
“But I think that she also recognized that she raised a son who would make a real difference, someone who was dignified, and who would seek out opportunities for activism and engagement within the global community as well as national.”
The Obama connection with Indonesia should not be dismissed or taken lightly in any way. No other country can claim a piece of this US president’s heart. To burnish this incredible legacy and opportunity, here’s what the president and Jakarta governor should be doing ahead of Obama’s anticipated return following the APEC Summit in Singapore in November:
- To complement the plaque at Obama’s former grade school that reads “The 44th President of the United States attended this school…,” add a life-size statue in the nearby park. Tourists will love this.
- Invite First Sister Maya to serve as a director of a non-profit foundation here and bring her and her family out for regular visits. Family ties cut through red tape.
- I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again – honor Obama’s mother Ann Dunham with an honorary presidential award for her anthropological and microfinancing work during her Indonesia years. You know that will touch the son’s soul.
- Start preparing for his Indonesian homecoming now. Plan and clean up the parade route. Get his and wife Michelle’s measurements for an Iwan Tirta batik shirt and Obin evening dress. Start vetting the players for his inevitable pickup basketball game (I’m in!). Include es campur on the banquet menu for its similarity to the Hawaiian shaved ice treat he loves.
Anak Menteng – the Boy from Menteng – is coming back to his childhood home nearly 30 years after he left. No one could have ever imagined it would be on Air Force One.
And Indonesia will fly as high as it’s ever has as a result.
Hawaii native Dalton Tanonaka is the co-anchor of Metro TV’s "Indonesia Now" program, seen on Saturday mornings at 7 a.m. and Sundays at 1 a.m. He can be reached at dalton@metrotvnews.com.
With former Jakarta schoolboy Barack Hussein Obama leading the resurgent United States, and Indonesia now set after the presidential election, it’s time to begin cooking up ways to set the table for new ventures and adventures.
To enlighten those who have been living in a Kalimantan cave or just returned from the jungles of Jambi, let me remind you just how special it is to have a US president who actually knows more than how to say “Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono”.
To expand on a list previously compiled in the December 2008 WEEKENDER, Obama will be the first leader of the world’s mightiest nation:
- To have stayed more than a week in Jakarta.
- To have been awakened by the morning call to Islamic prayers and his mother’s extra lessons in English.
- To have a sister born in Indonesia.
- To know that you don’t ride a “baik”.
- To have been listed as “Muslim” when registering for grade school.
- To have spent several months in Bali finishing up a book that would help him win the presidency.
- To have a mother that many older Indonesians respected and loved before anyone ever heard of “Barry” Obama.
The closest living relative to the world’s most influential head of state is Maya Soetoro-Ng. She was born to Obama’s mother Ann and Indonesian stepfather Lolo nine years after her brother. She has been living and working as a schoolteacher in Honolulu, Hawaii.
She has thought about joining Obama in Washington, a once-in-anyone’s-lifetime opportunity to live and work alongside the man who is quickly erasing much of the anti-American sentiment in many parts of the world.
I talked with her shortly after her brother’s election victory in November 2008, made much more emotional with the passing of their grandmother Madelyn Dunham a few days earlier.
It was a time to reflect. And to imagine how their mother would have felt if she had lived to see this milestone moment in history.
“Well, she knew what an amazing son she had sired, and I think that all of us are surprised by all the pop culture emanating from this event,” said Soetoro-Ng, who speaks better Indonesian than her older brother.
“But I think that she also recognized that she raised a son who would make a real difference, someone who was dignified, and who would seek out opportunities for activism and engagement within the global community as well as national.”
The Obama connection with Indonesia should not be dismissed or taken lightly in any way. No other country can claim a piece of this US president’s heart. To burnish this incredible legacy and opportunity, here’s what the president and Jakarta governor should be doing ahead of Obama’s anticipated return following the APEC Summit in Singapore in November:
- To complement the plaque at Obama’s former grade school that reads “The 44th President of the United States attended this school…,” add a life-size statue in the nearby park. Tourists will love this.
- Invite First Sister Maya to serve as a director of a non-profit foundation here and bring her and her family out for regular visits. Family ties cut through red tape.
- I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again – honor Obama’s mother Ann Dunham with an honorary presidential award for her anthropological and microfinancing work during her Indonesia years. You know that will touch the son’s soul.
- Start preparing for his Indonesian homecoming now. Plan and clean up the parade route. Get his and wife Michelle’s measurements for an Iwan Tirta batik shirt and Obin evening dress. Start vetting the players for his inevitable pickup basketball game (I’m in!). Include es campur on the banquet menu for its similarity to the Hawaiian shaved ice treat he loves.
Anak Menteng – the Boy from Menteng – is coming back to his childhood home nearly 30 years after he left. No one could have ever imagined it would be on Air Force One.
And Indonesia will fly as high as it’s ever has as a result.
Hawaii native Dalton Tanonaka is the co-anchor of Metro TV’s "Indonesia Now" program, seen on Saturday mornings at 7 a.m. and Sundays at 1 a.m. He can be reached at dalton@metrotvnews.com.
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