The controversial issue about Obama statue which is erected in Menteng Park, Jakarta, has made some portion of Indonesians angry. They were asking for the relevancy in putting a top American figure in Indonesia. “Obama has offered no contribution to Indonesia, so do we have to honour him?” and “He is not a part of Indonesia, he is a part of the USA” are two prominent arguments which supports the taking down of this statue.
First of all, I do agree that the erection of this statue is a kind of weird thing to do. If you want to inspire Indonesian kids, aren’t there more people who can be a model for this statue? How about Soekarno as the first president of Indonesia who united Indonesia and liberate the country from the invasion of three European countries: Portugal, Holland, and Japan? Or BJ. Habibie, a genius scientist from Indonesia who invented the formula for the construction of Boeing wing plane which regarded a standing applause from German governor? I think those two people will be more appropriate to be built a statue about their childhood.
However, protesting to the extent of bringing the statue down is a little bit excessive. Eventhough some of us think that Barack Obama has no contribution whatsoever in Indonesia, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t anybody who isn’t inspired by him. Please do notice that he has a Nobel Peace award which is a very prestigious award. And also do remember that Barack Obama didn’t come from a prestigious family. He started from crawling until he can be the number 1 person in the USA. If people are inspired by his spectacular effort to become what he is right now, why stopping them from honouring this man? If you want to protest, why not donating for erecting a statue for someone appropriate to be a model of instead of demanding this statue to be taken down?
It’s not about our national pride will be threaten by this statue nor this statue will be a sign of Indonesia losing its identity, but it’s about inspirational character who happens to be nobody but became one of prestigious and honorable men. Unless he is Adolf Hitler or Osama bin Laden, I think it will be alright to honour him for his good deeds.
News Source:
http://thejakartaglobe.com/city/facebook-group-calls-for-obamas-jakarta-statue-to-be-taken-down/347315
http://www.voa-islam.net/news/citizens-jurnalism/2009/12/15/2094/obama-%28memangtak-pantas-dipatungkan-di-indonesia/
http://www.republika.co.id/berita/95872/Patung_Obama_Didesak_Diturunkan
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