Indonesians celebrate inauguration of Barack Obama
Updated
The new US President Barrack Obama has become a favourite son in Indonesia because of the years he spent in the country as a child. Former schoolmates have been celebrating the president's inauguration with a hope that Indonesia will now have a friend in the Whitehouse.
Presenter: Gavin Fang, Indonesia Correspondent, ABC Australia Network
Speaker: Rully Dusaat, school friend of Barack Obama; Cameron Hume, US ambassador to Indonesia; Tina Hayari, Barack Obama's former Jakarta school teacher
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FANG: Young Indonesians celebrating the inauguration of a US President and perhaps dreaming of one day following the path to success blazed by their now famous alumni.
In Indonesia, the new US President has become an adopted son and his former classmates at Jakarta's Besuki school are full of pride and hope.
School friend Rully Dusaat summed up the mood.
DUSAAT: Sometimes I feel like this is like a dream which I find personally difficult to believe, but it's happened. I hope he will be a grand leader for the world but also stabilise between the west and the rest of the would especially the Muslim countries.
FANG: President Obama spent four years in Indonesia and on Tuesday he sent a special message to the country, thanking it for providing him with many lessons and memories, a sentiment echoed by the US ambassador to Indonesia, Cameron Hume.
HUME: The years he was here were the years that he learned his social skills as much from the faculty as from his colleagues in class. All Americans have a reason to be grateful that he was able to benefit from his years here together with you.
FANG: Indonesians are now looking to the US President to deliver on his inauguration promise to forge a new relationship with the Muslim world, built on mutual respect and interest.
And perhaps he can draw on the experience and words of his former Jakarta school teacher, the now 80 year old Tiny Hayari.
HAYARI: (Translation) May you be a good, wise, strict when necessary, fair honest and god fearing leader so you will be successful always, god bless.
FANG: Well there is a sense here in Jakarta that this is a celebration for a man who has become one of Indonesia's favourite sons. Across Jakarta there are inauguration parties to mark this event. Barack Obama's links to Indonesia are now widely known in this country and part of what's becoming local legend. He came to Indonesia as a young boy, stayed here for four years with his Indonesian stepfather and his mother, spent time at a local school here in Jakarta and lived what many people say was the life of a normal Indonesian boy. Earlier, I spoke to a former school mate and a Barack Obama supporter to see how they were feeling about this inauguration.
SCHOOL MATE: It's strange because we never expected him to become this big because he was a normal young naughty boy that sometimes we like because he's very sociable, but sometimes very naughty and now he becomes somebody this big and so aspiring.
SUPPORTER: I think it's about celebrating his success but it's also about celebrating democracy, it's about understanding that people working together can actually change and make a difference.
FANG: Many Indonesians now hope that with Barack Obama this country will have a friend in the White House. But for now it's all about celebrating.
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