Yahoo – AFP,
July 1, 2017
Jakarta
(AFP) - Barack Obama called for tolerance and respect in his childhood home of
Indonesia Saturday, amid rising religious tensions in the country where the
former US president spent four years as a boy.
At the end
of a 10-day family holiday, Obama spoke to a packed crowd in the capital
Jakarta, where he praised the spirit of tolerance in Indonesia, saying you
could see mosques, temple and churches alongside each other.
"That
spirit is one of the defining things about Indonesia, the most important
characteristics to set as an example for other Muslim countries around the
world," Obama said.
The 44th
president of the United State then said: "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika," --
Indonesia's motto, which means unity in diversity, prompting huge cheers from
the crowd of thousands of leaders, business people and students at the Fourth
Congress of Indonesian Diaspora.
Obama lived
in Indonesia when he was a six-year-old boy with his mother, an anthropologist,
and his Indonesian stepfather and half-sister.
His mother
later divorced and Obama moved back to Hawaii at the age of 10 to live with his
grandparents.
The
Muslim-majority country has recently seen a rise in Islamic radicalism.
Its track
record as a tolerant nation is being tested after former Jakarta governor
Basuki Tjahaja Purnama -– an ethnic Chinese Christian -- lost Jakarta's mayoral
election in April against a prominent Muslim candidate.
Purnama was
later sentenced to two years prison in May for blasphemy over comments he made
about the Koran which divided the nation and stirred up issues of religion and
ethnicity in the archipelago, which was long hailed by other countries for it's
ability to tolerate different religious.
Prior to
Jakarta, Obama and his family visited the resort island of Bali and the ancient
city of Yogyakarta which is known for its temples.
The Obamas
will leave Indonesia for South Korea on Sunday.
Huge cheers for @BarackObama as he quotes "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" motto in call for unity during visit to #Indonesia https://t.co/0BB0J1o4Ho pic.twitter.com/KBFEdJvHHD— AFP news agency (@AFP) July 1, 2017
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