“I’m going home to watch Obama’s inauguration ceremony” said my colleague when he made an earlier-than-normal office-home trip yesterday. What I mean in “normal” here is of course passing office hour already, but compared to his normal time, it was somehow “earlier”. Later in the evening when I logged in to facebook, I saw some friends’ status about the watching the event. Well, those are just two very simple examples of the enthusiasm about Obama.
Obama is indeed phenomenal. The world cheered his victory over rival McCain in the election. His inauguration ceremony yesterday attracted millions of people. Americans in the United States flooded the capital, Washington, to attend the ceremony. Overseas Americans held the gathering event to watch the ceremony. Non US citizens tuned in to television for live coverage. It must have been recorded in the history book as one of the most followed event, the day when Obama sworn in as the 44th President of The United States.
It’s normal for people all over the world to feel hopeful of Obama, following catastrophic times brought by Bush in his eight-year regime, and his “Change” campaign theme. Particularly for Indonesian people, the feel of joy and enthusiasm is understandable given the fact that Obama spent some of his childhood in Jakarta. But personally I think the over-joy feeling and optimistic hope over the relationship with US should be avoided, not to mention some exaggerating celebrations.
Obama himself have not spoken much about his childhood in Indonesia. Well, perhaps this might change as time goes by, if the argument is that it would hamper his chance of being elected if he spoke about it. But the most important point to note is that he is the President of The United States, not Republic of Harmony or Kingdom of World Peace. As far as he concerns, the United State of America and American people will remain the top priority. The decisions he made will surely based on the welfare and the best interest of America, even though let’s say the decision is disadvantaging Indonesia or other countries.
Well, perhaps it’s just me being skeptical. I’m more than happy to be proven wrong. The Gaza saga involving Hamas and Israel could provide some insights. It’s interesting to see the stand-point of Obama on this issue, considering Israel is US lifelong ally and best friend.
Hendro Santoso's Hut 