Take down Obama statue!

So here it is, the Obama statue! It is a bronze coloured statue of Obama as a child with a medal on his neck and butterfly on one hand, erected at Taman Menteng (Menteng Park), Jakarta, Indonesia.

The statue has lately taken on the hype ever since a facebook group "TURUNKAN PATUNG BARACK OBAMA di TAMAN MENTENG" (take down Barack Obama statue in Menteng Park) was created.

Personally? I wasn't as much interested to see the statue. However because of the hype, I think it has created more interest and expose which has made it more famous than it probably were meant to.

So my family helped me to locate the statue for the day because I want to take a picture of it before it has to be taken down.

It is indeed rather strange that we were so happy about Obama just because he has spent some years when he was a kid in Indonesia. We were almost proud of it, while he, himself, probably never really have a strong attachment nor memories of his time here. I like what was written in the introduction of the facebook group:

"Kami tidak membenci Amerika atau Obama, meskipun juga tidak mengidolakan Obama atau mencintai Amerika. Kami sekedar ingin menegakkan kepala sebagai bangsa yang berdaulat sepenuhnya dan menghargai para pahlawan yg berjuang demi bangsa Indonesia...."

Translation:
"We do not hate America or Obama, but also do not idolize Obama nor love America. We just want to held our heads high as a fully independent nation and appreciate the heroes that has fought for Indonesian"


On the other hand, it is just an art. Perhaps an art that would be better placed at his former primary school though (my dad said that the school even can get more funding by charging tickets to see the statue to tourists). Another friend said that there are much better things to protest about like the flood in Jakarta. While my mum said that perhaps rather than taking down the statue, it is better to erect more statues of world and local leaders in that park.

I'm happy with whatever going to happen. Perhaps the best thing is to take it down honourably (not being molested.. don't want to molest a kid, right?) and relocated somewhere else, perhaps inside the his school. That way perhaps this picture will worth more when no one else in the future can take similar ones!

So there, that's our views of it. To make it complete, my dad posed in this last picture. He tried to take it down. Very appropriate dad!