Saturday 30 August 2008

Obama was Indonesian?! Hmm...

I found this post about Obama's citizenship in his youth. And a further browsing brought me to see this news.

Sometimes it is not important what was stated in the ID card here in Indonesia (although Barry Soetoro was obviously underage for an ID card), my husband was still using his ID card wrote that he is Buddhist years after he became Catholic. Our IDs were also stated that we were single although we've been married for several years, and the legal papers obtained for our civil marriage also came through recommendation letters from the same offices that produce our ID cards. (But, there is a big improvement in system nowadays).

An investigation into Indonesian citizenship law and a review of Obama's biography and travels suggest the Illinois senator at one point may have been a citizen of Indonesia. That would not necessarily disqualify Obama to run for president, but it could raise loyalty concerns.


I just wonder if his loyalty is looking to the bright intelligent man he is now, or to a young innocent boy who was just follow his parents' will...

Indonesians are really proud of having a piece of Obama's life here. His fan is not only from the high rank politician like Soedarsono, but also from the grassroot citizen, like his former classmates or even some young generation who adore younger face as the world leader (see more in YouTube).

I've read in the Indonesian Readers' Digest that Obama's former classmates regretted that they did not have any answer to their supporting letter. It is obvious that Obama should be more careful in showing his relation to his former "host" country if any small issue can be used against him!

I think the Indonesian law made Obama an Indonesian boy if his biological father is Indonesian. I don't know the situation back then, but it was surely easier to say that Barry Soetoro is Indonesian than claiming him as American for procedural reason. I don't think his previous school record can be made a proof of his trail of citizenship!

As an outsider (and I'm not really interested in talking about politic) I found the news about his previous citizenship is ridiculous. I can only say: "God Bless You, Senator Obama!"

2 comments:

Nuning Hallett said...

Nggak mungkin lah Mbak Obama pernah jadi Indonesian citizen. Jika ia tinggal di Indonesia pasca tahun 1958, pastinya ia US citizen dong. Apalagi pernikahan ibunya dengan Soetoro nggak pernah dicatat di KCS. There's no way for Barrack Obama obtain Indonesian citizenship back then.
UU kewarganegaraan Indonesia tidak akan pernah mengakui Obama sebagai WNI.
ANyway, I adored his speech in Denver.

Retty Hakim (a.k.a. Maria Margaretta Vivijanti) said...

Salam kenal ya mbak Nuning...
Terima kasih sudah mampir ke blog saya.
His speech in Denver won a lot of new fans universally...
More than 40 millions viewer in the States...surely much more than that in the global world!
Hope for a better future is something we all seek in our future leaders, hopefully we are not waiting for Godot!