Sunday, January 18, 2009

Obama inauguration looms

As the inauguration of Barack Obama hovers only hours away, it's a time for not only looking forward, but looking back.

As such, the New York Times has just run a series of essays on the individual cities where Obama came to be the man he is. First on the list, an essay penned by Endy Bayuni, the chief editor of the Jakarta Post. In "Obama's Indonesian Classroom," he puts Barack's childhood days in historical context, conjuring up images of Indonesia then - only shortly after the Year of Living Dangerously, with the fall of Sukarno and the rise of Suharto, still beset by mass poverty and in the grip of military control.

What a difference with the Indonesia of today. And what a difference between a little boy of 10 years old, growing up in Indonesian schools and living on the outskirts of Jakarta, and the soon-to-be leader of the free world.

If it were fiction, nobody would believe it. As Bayuni ends his essay, with a wish for Obama from the Indonesian people: Selamat.


Today's Top Stories

Fuel depot fire rocks Jakarta
Pertamina says supplies won't be interrupted

Palm oil vs. the orangutans
Famed scientist Birute Galdikas on the warpath

Indonesia abstains from UN vote
Says wasn't hard enough on Israel

Give me a break
Padang mayor mandates Korna recitation at work

2 comments:

schmerly said...

Corrupt practices stem from a diseased heart and greed, Bahar said, and the Koran is a remedy for that.

Yes lets start by cutting some hands off, that should stop them stealing other peoples money!!

Christopher Taylor said...

There'd be a whole lot of handless people walking around! :)