by Mark Silva
The statue of "Little Barry'' - a likeness of President Barack Obama as a boy - stands a short walk from the school that he attended as a child in Indonesia.
But only one month after the bronze sculpture was erected in central Jakarta's Menteng Park, people are petitioning to take it down. Authorities are considering the petition.
"We've been discussing for the past two weeks what to do with the statue... whether to take it down, move it elsewhere or retain it,'' Jakarta parks official Dwi Bintarto is quoted by Agence France Press as saying. "We're finding the best solution.''
Obama, born in Hawaii, lived for four years in Jakarta in the 1960s after his divorced mother married an Indonesian. The bronze, designed by Indonesian artists, depicts the boy in shorts and a T-shirt with a butterfly perched on his hand.
"The statue is of Obama as a child, not as the U.S. president,'' Bintarto said. "His relatives and friends who erected it said it's meant to motivate children to study hard and dream big.''
But a Facebook-based movement claiming 50,000 signatures and going by the name of "Take Down the Barack Obama Statue in Menteng Park" say the American president has done nothing for Indonesia.
"Barack Obama has yet to make a significant contribution to the Indonesian nation,'' its Website says. "For the dignity of a sovereign nation, Barack Obama's monument in Menteng Park must be removed immediately."
Obama, who has sought to reach out to the Muslim world as president, has said that he will visit Indonesia, the country with the world's largest Muslim population, this year.
"As many of you know, I have some historic ties to Indonesia, but I am also extraordinarily impressed with the progress that Indonesia has made in developing its democracy,'' Obama said in November, after a meeting with President Yudhoyono of Indonesia at the annual APEC summit in Singapore.
"I am very excited about our prospects for deepening relations in the future, and I want to make sure that everybody knows that I intend to be visiting Indonesia next year,'' Obama said. "The invitation that's been extended... by President Yudhoyono is one that I want to take up, and I'm hoping to be able to take Michelle and the girls as well so that they can take a look at some of my old haunting grounds.''
It might be nice if they kept the statue there long enough for the girls to see it.
Comments
To bad you can't burn it, but take it down melt it, use the money for the poor in Indonesia or Haiti. Show the world Muslims do care about other countries.
Posted by: Lisa C | January 26, 2010 3:11 PM
I'll bet anyone a million dollars that every single person on that Facebook list is not from Indonesia.
They're all right wing lunatic fringe Teabagger haters.
.
Posted by: former Republican | January 26, 2010 3:17 PM
Since Facebook is loaded with people who tilt to the right wing extremist wacko fringe, I would make two observations:
I bet less than 1% of that 55,000 are actually Indonesians,
That is a tiny number compared to the usual number of right wing extremist wackos who usually vote on such polls.
This is a non-issue.
Posted by: Planet Wingnuttia | January 26, 2010 3:19 PM
This article fails to mention why the local people supported the statue (funded by PRIVATE donations BTW):
"Ron Mullers, a Jakarta resident who came up with the idea of the statue and raised money for it, said it was supposed to inspire local children to follow their dreams."
The first article I found mentioning the installation of this statue was from Dec. 8th of 2009 ... by Dec. 10th,
Fox news was already running a story about a Face Book Group that opposed the statue. Have to wonder if Fox created this group in the same way they manufactured the "grass roots", Tea Bagger effort.
Posted by: Leonard Slivergren | January 26, 2010 3:22 PM
Look at you people hating on people who don't lilke Obama! You Leftist wingnuts will defend him to the the very end while calling us names! Too bad Obama is gonna make your lives HELL for the next 3 years or Less - let's hope!
Posted by: Lladnar | January 26, 2010 5:54 PM
I'll bet TWO million dollars that the campaign donations that went to Obama were not from all legitimate sources.
Anyhow, it's correct that Little Barry hasn't done anything to contribute towards his Indonesian countrymen.
What's he done with the money he accepted from the Nobel Peace award? *crickets chirp*
Obama hasn't earned the privilege of a statue any more than the Nobel money he received.
Posted by: Debt | January 26, 2010 6:11 PM
=============================
I'll bet TWO million dollars that the campaign donations that went to Obama were not from all legitimate sources.Obama hasn't earned the privilege of a statue any more than the Nobel money he received.
Posted by: Debt | January 26, 2010 6:11 PM
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Biff,
You don't see other countries building statues to Republican presidents for one reason - they hate them.
And you right wing lunatic fringe nutbags are still crying because Obama kicked your butt with support and small donations in the Pres election?......HAHAHA!!!
Posted by: Republican presidents created 75% of our DEBT | January 26, 2010 7:05 PM
A statue of Dwight Eisenhower resides in London,
Albania is putting up a statue of W Bush,
Mexico has a statue of Lincoln,
Paraguay has a number of statues and memorials to Rutherford Hayes.
Yeah, other countries really "hate" American Rep. Presidents.
Ignorance to the facts is very unflattering, even to a troll.
Posted by: Debt | January 26, 2010 7:32 PM
Barry Soetoro was Obama's name when, with his parents' help, he became a citizen of Indonesia.
His parents, Stanley Ann Dunham Obama Soetoro and Lolo Soetoro, registered him in school as a Muslim citizen of Indonesia according to his registration papers published by the Associated Press.
It's a cute statue of Barry Soetoro before he moved back to the USA to live with his grandparents in Hawaii.
Posted by: wakeupamerica | January 27, 2010 12:07 AM
Tear it down and erect it in from of the Nobel prize committee offices to remind them of their blunder.
Posted by: Dennis D | January 27, 2010 12:07 AM
Couldn’t it simply be that the request for the removal of this statue has nothing to do with either right- or left wing opinions about this subject, but that Indonesia is getting cold feet about having a tribute to someone whose actions belie his promises and that the reason given is a polite excuse in order not to express the way they really feel about this man?
Posted by: John Acoma | January 27, 2010 3:25 AM
Well said Debt. Progressives and liberals either don't know their history or they try to re-write it. Thus, they are destined to repeat the failures of the past.
Posted by: Independent | January 27, 2010 6:33 AM