Barry’s friends: A number of elementary school students pose at Menteng park, Central Jakarta, before the statue, picturing little Barack Obama, or Barry, when he was still an elementary school student in Jakarta. JP/J. Adiguna
The life story of Barack Obama has become an inspiration for people across the globe, including Indonesia. But for more than 6,000 Facebook users, erecting a statue of the US President in a park in Menteng, Jakarta, is too much. Just a few days after the Central Jakarta municipality unveiled the bronze statue of Obama as a boy at Menteng park, experts and a group of Facebook users have jointly demanded the city administration dismantle the statue for “insulting national pride.”
Facebook users have been joining the group, “Take down the Barack Obama statue from Menteng Park,” which was created Saturday evening, two days after the statue was launched. Heru Nugroho, the group’s creator told The Jakarta Post there was no point erecting the “Barry” statue in Indonesia since he had contributed almost nothing to the country. “For me, the establishment of the statue shows that this country no longer has national pride,” he said Monday. “Obama spent several years of his childhood here, but what did he do for Indonesia? Besides [Obama], there are many national figures or heroes, such as [late comedian] Benyamin Sueb, who deserve to have their sculpture erected in Jakarta.” Several others support Heru’s opinion. Cultural observer Ardi Yunanto wrote in online urban studies journal karbonjournal.org that the sculpture showed the country’s “tortured logic,” insinuating that Indonesian education could “produce” a US president.
Your comments:
I will ask; what has he ever done? And not just during his childhood! The guy has no past to verify and no accomplishments to mark him as a great leader. How could somebody with no history and no accomplishments ever have a statue erected or a library built in his name?
Seems like the world has turned upside down and we now live in a twilight zone, where according to Barry, war equals peace, bailouts equals capitalism, government control equals freedom, single payer health care equals choice, spending equals saving, etc, etc.
John Donson
Florida
You mean to tell me that out of the entire country, there was none more worthy of a statue to inspire the nation’s kids other than Barack Obama!
To say it wasn’t politically motivated is a laugh, I mean who put it up; the Friends of Obama Foundation did.
I think it is an insult to all those in Indonesia who are actually truly worthy of such recognition, not some guy who lived there for four years and lucked out to become president of the US. I mean, really.
Rory
North Carolina
We are just following the Noble Prize council. Too early, but who cares? What are decorations and honors for? Indonesia would do better to erect statues of those world leaders who stood by our founding fathers during the early years of the republic Do we remember our history?
Anand Krishna
Jakarta
Barry’s father was a citizen of Kenya (like his son) and not Indonesia.
Native
California
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