An Indonesian photographer who has become an
instant celebrity due to his resemblance to US President Barack Obama said
Wednesday he would keep his day job despite offers to feature in TV commercials
as an Obama double, dpa reported.
Ilham Anas, 34, has appeared in a medication commercial in
the Philippines and on a popular Indonesian comedy show playing Obama, but he
said he expected his fame would be short-lived.
"I may be a little bit famous now but when Obama fever
dies down people will forget me," Anas told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
"I will stick to my job as a photographer. I'm happy
with what I do and I don't want it to change," he said.
Obama, who was inaugurated as US president on Tuesday, lived
in Indonesia as a child and attended a public elementary school in Jakarta after his mother married an Indonesian man following the end of her marriage to
Obama's Kenyan father.
Anas, who works for a youth magazine called Hai, said it was
his family who first noticed his resemblance to Obama.
His fellow photographers later took pictures of him wearing a
suit and tie and posted them on the Internet.
Anas said he had continued to receive offers from foreign and
local agents to appear in TV commercials but he was trying to resist the
temptation of fame.
"I will not live forever and money is not
everything," he said.
But on Tuesday night Anas appeared as a guest on popular
comedy show, Bukan Empat Mata (Not Four Eyes), along with 2008 Miss Indonesia
Zivana Letisha Siregar.
Anas said he was willing to be an Obama impersonator as long
as the US president was consistent with his promise of change.
"I hope he will be a just arbiter of global conflicts,
restore America's reputation and be wise in his foreign policy so that America can be a great nation again," he said.
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