Obama’s half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, helps him reach out to Asian-Americans

THE RACE

Obama’s half-sister helps him reach out to Asian-Americans
Associated Press
Posted online: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 at 2350 hrs Print Email

San Francisco, July 1 : The throng of Asian-American donors drew closer, drinks in hand, to hear Barack Obama’s sister describe the wide arc of his life: beyond politics and Chicago, into his childhood in Indonesia and Hawaii.


To many in this crowd Obama’s Asian-American half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, represents yet another aspect of Obama’s identity that makes him unique as a presidential candidate, although it has been underplayed amid the excitement surrounding his shot at becoming the first black president.

“It would be the first time that the first family is comprised in part of Asian-Americans— as well as African— Americans, of course,” said Keith Kamisugi, a coordinator with Asian-Americans for Obama, describing the fundraiser he organised in early June.

Discussion of those ties has taken a back seat to the Obama campaign’s efforts to win the Hispanic vote and his ability to rouse young and black voters. In spite of the drawn-out primary season, many voters have heard little about Obama’s years in Jakarta— he lived there between 1967 and 1971, while his mother was married to Soetoro- Ng’s father, an Indonesian businessman— or about his years in Hawaii, where Asian-Americans are a majority.

Soetoro-Ng and Obama have different fathers and the same mother. Her father is Indonesian, his is Kenyan. Her husband is Chinese-Canadian.