Wednesday, November 5, 2008 11:50 PM

A group of students from Menteng 01 state elementary school in Central Jakarta, where U.S. president-elect Barrack Obama studied while he lived in Indonesia, cheer as Obama is declared the winner in the U.S. presidential election. (JP/J. Adiguna)

Menteng students overjoyed with Obama's win

The Jakarta Post | Wed, 11/05/2008 3:02 PM | Jakarta

"Obama... Obama... Obama... We love you!" yelled hundreds of students from all grades in a Menteng elementary school in Central Jakarta on Wednesday, as they watched results come in for the U.S. presidential election.

Students and teachers were overjoyed to suspend classes, gather in a 1,500 square meter ballroom and witness how a former student of the school became elected the next president of the United States.

Headmaster Kuswadiyanto said the teachers and students had been starting their school day differently during the past few days.

"Every morning before lessons start, we've been praying for Barry, hoping for him to win the election," Kuswadiyanto said, as quoted by kompas.com.

As tallies on the television screen grew and confirmed Obama's win, all the students expressed their happiness by running around, scattering all over the place, dashing out of the ballroom and roaming the schoolyard even though rain was pouring down.

Obama's victory was also their victory. They were proud that the one-time Menteng student had became the leader of the most powerful country on the planet. "I want Obama to come here so we can talk with him," said Ajo, a fifth grader.

The teachers said the school would pray for Obama again on Thursday. "We want to express our thankfulness, so we will continue praying for him.... Today we are just enjoying this victory with the students," Kuswadiyanto said. (and)

An Indonesian woman poses with a cardboard cutout of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama during an American election party sponsored by the American consulate in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Wednesday. (AP/Binsar Bakkara)