Obama and family visit his childhood home
BOGOR: Former President Barack Obama and his family arrived yesterday in his childhood home of Jakarta on the tailend of their 10-day vacation to Indonesia, where they were spotted whitewater rafting and visiting ancient temples.
Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will host Obama at the Bogor Palace in West Java, a grand Dutch colonial building famous for its 80ha botanical gardens and a herd of spotted deer that roam the grounds.
Obama was incredibly popular in Indonesia during his presidency, and many here saw him as a symbol of hope and religious tolerance because of his years living in the world’s most populous Muslim country.
A statue of the kid still remembered as “Barry” by childhood friends was erected outside the elementary school he once attended in Jakarta’s upscale, leafy neighbourhood of Menteng.
“This is the last opportunity for us to meet with Barry, our child- hood friend who has made us so proud,” said Widianto Cahyono, who sat next to Obama in the fourth grade and is hopeful the former president will visit his old neighbourhood.
“We have long waited for a reunion with him.”
Obama also retains a soft spot for Indonesia, where he lived from age 6 to 10.
He moved to Jakarta in 1967 after his mother split up with his father and remarried an Indonesian man.
They had his half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, who is traveling with the family.
After her second marriage failed, Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, stayed on in Indonesia and Obama returned to Hawaii to live with his grandparents.
During a 2010 presidential visit, he delighted onlookers by proclaiming in Bahasa Indonesia that bakso, a savory meatball soup, and nasi goreng are delicious.
Obama is scheduled to speak at an Indonesian Diaspora Congress in Jakarta on Saturday.