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| Title: Barack Obama classmates say: 'Good Luck Barry!' |
| Description: 'Good Luck Barry!'
March 14 NBC Nightly News, with "The
Early Years" as the on-screen header.
Now a look at a part of Barack Obama's
life that most people have probably
never known about. NBC's Ian Williams
went back to the neighborhood where
Obama spent some of his early years,
tracking down old friends who have
stories you may not have heard.
IAN WILLIAMS, OVER PHOTO WITH "GOOD
LUCK BARRY": Barack Obama's latest
endorsement from his old classmates in
Jakarta, Indonesia. They'll be sending
these photographs to the boy they all
knew as Barry.
RULY DASAAD, FORMER CLASSMATE: We'll
send this to him as solidarity,
support, respect for him.
WILLIAMS: He arrived in Jakarta in
1967, age 6 with his mother who'd
married an Indonesian student Lolo Soetoro. His stepfather, first in the army, later worked for an oil company.
Young Barry's half sister Maya rounded out
the family photo. Obama was the only
foreigner at the upscale Menteng
school, mastering the Indonesian
language. He towered over classmates
who remembered him as a happy-go-lucky
child.
DASAAD: Always chasing around here,
running, playing hide-and-seek with
me.
WILLIAMS: And doodling during class,
super-heroes his specialty.
MAN: Spiderman
WILLIAMS: Classmates say little
religion was taught. The school was
secular and academic, in spite of
Indonesia being the world's most
populous Islamic country.
WIDIYANTO, FORMER CLASSMATE: That
school is not and will never be a
madrassa. No, no. It's a public
school.
WILLIAMS: A former teacher told me
that, in Obama's day, Menteng did
teach Christianity and Islam but
neither played a big role.
WILLIAMS: So really, it's quite a
small role.
EFFENDI, OBAMA'S FORMER TEACHER:
Small.
WILLIAMS: The fact that Obama lived in
Jakarta and studied at this school has
really captured the popular
imagination. It's already working
wonders for America's battered image
here. Indonesian television has given
massive coverage to the U.S. election.
Obama is being treated almost as a
native son.
WIMAR WITOELAR, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR:
Obama's candidacy confirms the
romantic ideals people like me have
held since childhood that America's
the land of opportunity.
WILLIAMS: And it seems there are few
who haven't been watching. From the
market-
MAN: I like Obama.
WILLIAMS: -to the university.
WOMAN: It's really exciting for me.
WILLIAMS: The old Obama family house
still stands on the outskirts of the
city. Friends remember Barry playing
barefoot in the paddy fields with a
real spirit of adventure.
DAYA ZAKIR, CHILDHOOD FRIEND: Just
walk as far as we could until we got
scared that we were too far away from
the bungalow. Only then we come back.
WILLIAMS: Now his friends hope
there'll be no turning back on his
journey to the White House. And Barry
might attend their next reunion as
President of the United States. Ian
Williams, NBC News, Jakarta.
[UPDATE, Engish translation of article
from the 'Algemeen Dagblad' newspaper
in The Netherlands: "Obama Fan Club
Launched by Indonesian Former
Classmates."] |
| Tags: barack, indonesia, jakarta, obama |
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