Statue of young Obama unveiled in Jakarta

more images

more images

JAKARTA - A bronze statue of Barack Obama as a young child was unveiled Thursday in Central Jakarta, the neighbourhood where the US president spent part of his childhood.

The statue has been erected at a corner of a playground at Taman Menteng Park, previously an athletic field near Obama’s former school.

The construction of the statue was initiated by a group called Friends of Obama, a non-government organization.

Ron Mullers, the group’s chairman said the unveiling of the statue was not a political event but purely inspirational.

“That is why it (the statue) is not Obama as a president, but as a child instead, so this can be an inspiration for Indonesian children,” Mullers said.

Scores of students from the nearby Menteng 1 Elementary School were among a crowd of 500 who applauded as Jakarta Mayor Sylviana Murni unveiled the almost life-sized statue of 10-year-old Obama smiling at a butterfly that landed on his upheld left thumb.

At that age Obama studied in an elementary school in the neighbourhood, where he lived with his mother, Ann Dunham, who married an Indonesian.

Obama stayed in Jakarta neighbourhood from 1967 to 1971, before he returned to his birthplace in Hawaii.

The process of designing the statue and selecting a suitable location began more than a year ago, while the moulding took three months. The 110-centimetre-statue cost more than 100 million rupiah ($10,600).

Sylviana said her administration was not involved in the funding, and that the costs were met by local donors.

Obama is scheduled to visit Jakarta some time next year.