WHEN Barack Hussein Obama, the new president's dream, buffeted by allegations that he had been educated in a madrassa (school) in Indonesia while it radical youth, demands that spread like a virus hit the media and the Internet.
That is a lie - is actually more religious madrassas rather than church schools in England - but it's also a signal that the chances of Obama winning the presidency depends on the personal life story and his character, The Australian reported.
The fight is underway warm, but only sidikit people know about the senator from Illinois, and The Sunday Times can reveal much more diverse keahidupannya heritage and amazing than what has been known to U.S. voters.
Obama, 45, has two foster sister, one of them based in the UK, and five brothers, stepbrother, the eldest embrace Islam, and no doubt her story and then spread throughout the world.
No one is more surprised to hear that Obama is reported to have attended a madrassa education than what has been perceived Julia Suryakusuma, a good friend of his mother until she (his mother) died of cancer in 1995 ovaria.
Suryakusuma, 53 years, one of Indonesia's women writers vocal about the problem of femininity, are not afraid to do the publication of figures Muslim hardliners.
Last week, Suryakusuma described Ann Dunham, Obama's mother, as "a liberal and humanist", a person who actively learn and speak Indonesian fluently and respect its culture.
"He (Obama's mother) was a tremendous respect for the various religions, but he himself did not embrace one of them. He is a very free thinker, "said Suryakusuma, adding," He is a pioneer and when it comes to Indonesia, he was quite captivated and fascinated with the culture.
On the coffee table in a beautiful and modern house in Jakarta, filled with Indonesian handicrafts are always compelling theme, humble photo album that stores memories.
That Dunham, a somewhat kepucat-faced and curly-haired pucatan is celebrating with her friends at the gallery opening or drinking events, by wearing loose clothing that is often preferred bohemian western women in Asia. The smile on his lips was always broke.
"You know, Ann is really white," said Suryakusuma while glancing at the photos in the album, "although he once said to me that he inherited the Cherokee blood. I think he loves the people of color, brown-skinned. "
Dunham came from Wichita, Kansas, but his parents moved to Hawaii to look for life belih promising.
According to Obama, his ancestors did "full-blooded Cherokee."
Dunham, first married a Kenyan student, also called Barack Obama, but he (Barack) and then leave their parents and studied at Harvard and returned to Africa.
He then married Lolo Soetoro, a foreign student, and moved to Indonesia with Barack, her son who was six years old in 1967, after Suharto became the new president of Indonesia.
Soetoro became a consultant relationship between the Government of Indonesia and the U.S. giant oil company.
"He changed when it comes back to Indonesia," said Suryakusuma. "The man has a firm stance while in the West, and when they return to their home country, they also lost in its culture."
In his memoir, "Dreams from My Father", which was first published in 1995, Obama did not hide the estrangement relationship between mother and stepfather, Soetoro, who make compromise with the elite of Indonesian officials.
They divorced and he (Soetoro) died several years later due to liver disease.
In the age of 10 years, Obama returned to Hawaii, and lives with his grandmother while attending an elite private school.
Later his mother returned to Indonesia with Maya, Obama's foster sister who is now a professor at the University of Hawaii, and a woman's craft expert, also weave cloth used to produce a Javanese woman.
Suryakusuma Dunham recalled that greeted his son with "Barry" - Barry with the rhythm of Indonesia.
"We both are mothers of children always talked about the difficulty of life, especially in times of divorce, although this is very diutamannya Barry education.
She first met Obama when he visited his mother as an adult child.
"She (the mother) is very proud of him. I remember she (the mother) when it is shining with pride when he (Obama) was recorded as the first black person becomes President of the Harvard Law Review ", said Suryakusuma.
"You know, has a white mother with a black father and coming to Indonesia," said Suryakusuma, "I see he has empathy with local residents, as well as the attitude of the mother."
Multi-cultural heritage caused by the distance between Obama's African-American community, which makes it reluctant to greet him as "brother".
Communities USA whites, by contrast, has embraced Obama as an affirmation of hope that a mixture of many faces can tell people more important than race.
With his middle name Hussein (as Saddam Hussein) and the name depanya Obama (like Osama), he became a rare and exotic figure in political life in the U.S..
"I believe American voters are ready to support leaders who realize the American dream even though they have differences. By doing so, we affirm ourselves as a tolerant people, "said William Galston, a senior researcher on public policy at the Brookings Institute in Washington.
True, there are details of Obama's personal life that became the subject of careful study. That's probably not the information itself that the materials, according to Galston, but "Bagaimnana Obama spoke about the facts, as they raise and raise questions and controversies.
Chicago Sun-Times columnist, Lynn Sweet highlights for the first time in 2004, when Obama suddenly appeared on the national political stage during the Democratic convention, that his memoir, Dreams from My Father contains composite characters and change the names.
"Except for public figures and families, it is impossible to know who is real, and who is not.
Obama admitted much time introducing himself by saying he has changed the character "for the sake of their privacy."
Like the open secret that he took cocaine in as a teenager, she raises with honest about potential areas of controversy.
Obama's African family is really having trouble. In his personal life, his father never left Kezia, his first wife, in Kenya.
In his marriage with Obama Sr., she gave birth to two children, Roy and Auma, who now as social activists in Berkshire.
They have been divorced, Obama's mother who demanded a divorce, but it is a marriage under the hand that does not use an official marriage document, so no memenuntut divorce.
His father and mother also married in Hawaii who may not have official documents.
"How and when the marriage occurred remains gloom, a special bill that my own hard disclose it," Obama wrote in his memoirs.
After his father left Ann with two-year-old Barack to go to school at Harvard, Obama went to Africa with another American woman, Ruth, who became his third wife.
He gave her two children in Kenya, one of whom died in a motorcycle accident, but Obama Sr. stick with Kezia.
"By tradition, he remained as his wife," said a relative. Kezia gave birth to two sons, Abo and Bernard.
Despite their father's quarrel with the family involved, Obama Sr. still respected as his own.
Towards the end of his life, he became the father of another boy, George, thousands of young Kenyan woman.
After his parents split up, Obama saw his father died in a car accident in Kenya in 1982.
His brother, Roy, moved to the U.S. and later converted to Islam.
Obama himself became a devout Christian when he was active in social activities in Chicago. Mid-January, he denounced the reports that he is a madrassa dropout as what he called "slander" that funny.
Larry Sabato, professor of political science at the University of Virginia, believes that the recent African and Indonesian background of heterogeneous Obama's life, would attract the attention of voters, regardless of the controversy.
"Americans love a success story - a new generation that emerged from the sins and misfortunes of the older," said Saboto.
In Indonesia, Suryakusuma said he always felt warm above left memories that Obama's mother, Ann.
"He would feel proud if she knew about Barry, so proud to think that children ciliknya will fight to win the U.S. presidential seat.
(16/2/ANTARA)
