Obama in Jakarta

As the world is already aware, President Obama visited Jakarta this past Wednesday.  This was his third attempt, and it appears the third time was indeed, the charm, even though Mt. Metapi did its best to dissuade him from coming.  As it was, he shortened the visit from two days, to one day, and left early as the volcano began erupting again during his stay.  He was in Jakarta for 19 hours.

My invitation to join him for lunch never arrived, so his visit really had no effect on my life.  It did add a few highlights, though:

1)  Several people on my staff followed his visit quite closely.  All of the local news channels and papers covered the visit extensively.  What they found most interesting - at least in terms of what several mentioned to me regarding the visit - "Obama is more important than the Indonesian president".  Why?  Because when President Obama drove the streets, they were empty.  Local police shut the road to all other traffic - as is the standard protocol for a presidential motorcade in the U.S.  What makes it unique, however, is that the Indonesian President does not receive this same treatment.  He deals with traffic like everyone else.

2)  One of my neighbors was on the security detail for the presidential visit.  He and his family were able to join the breakfast with Obama the one morning he was here.  His four-year-old daughter got to see the president in person.  Pretty cool, regardless of your party affiliation.

3)  Any group that had an issue with my company used Obama's visit as an opportunity to gain visibility.  We had to shut down the front door to my office both days he was here.  We even rescheduled lunch because of one of the demonstrations.  Whether it be the Papuan's wanting a larger piece of the pie, or environmental groups wanting to close the operations altogether, they made the most of the president's visit.

I think the visit to Indonesia was important for both countries.  We have a real opportunity to repair our image with the group of people who love terrorizing us, and Indonesia is the place to do it.  Time will tell if the visit actually accomplished anything, but I appreciate the effort nonetheless.