Obama wins, Indonesia celebrates.

Jakarta locals read a newspaper featuring Senator Barack Obama. This picture was taken in the Menteng district of Jakarta, on the same street where the young Obama stayed from 1969-1970. Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images.

Senator Barack Obama has won the Presidential elections… and many Indonesians are celebrating along with the U.S.

Many people in Indonesia feel invested in an Obama win - after all, the President-elect spent part of his childhood in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. In his old elementary school, hundreds of students celebrated when news of his victory came through - Barack Obama is, in a sense, one of their own.

"We're so proud!" Alsya Nadin, a spunky 10-year-old in pink-framed glasses, said as fellow classmates poured onto the playground and started chanting "Obama! Obama!"...

"It's amazing to know that the man who will be the next president of the United States studied here, at our school!" said 11-year-old Muhamad Yodi. "We prayed this would happened, but still, I can hardly believe it."

As I mentioned in another blog entry, both John McCain and Barack Obama have strong personal connections to Southeast Asia. For a time in the early Seventies, both candidates were in the region - Obama running around Jakarta in short pants with his school buddies, McCain in far less pleasant circumstances.