US President Obama’s statue removed from a park in Jakarta
February 16th, 2010 - 10:45 pm ICT by Aishwarya Bhatt
Jakarta, Feb 16 (THAINDIAN NEWS) The Indonesian authorities removed a statue of the US President Barack Obama, which was installed in a park. The authorities had to take this drastic step because of the public backlash. They de-installed it from the park and then installed it in a nearby elementary school, which Barack Obama had attended as a small child.
A childhood photograph of the US President inspired the statue, which faced the brunt of the public outcry. In that photograph, Barack Obama is a 10-year-old child, and he is dressed in shorts, and he also has a butterfly perched on his outstretched thumb. Since the statue was installed in the park in December 2009, it has faced the ire of critics, who said that an Indonesian hero ought to have been honored instead of the US President.
The statue has found temporary quarters in a school. Edi Kusyanto, who is a teacher at the affluent government school, said the 43-inch statue of Barack Obama as a little boy, would be standing in the school grounds by the time the president visits Jakarta from March 20-22. “There is no controversy about the statue being here. Everyone at the school welcomes it,” Kusyanto said.
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Tags: barack obama, brunt, butterfly, controversy, drastic step, government school, hero, indonesian authorities, jakarta, nearby elementary school, photograph, public backlash, public outcry, quarters, thumb