'Obama pulled up his own chair'

KUALA LUMPUR: IT was a cold, almost empty room that was only furnished with a table and a dozen chairs. Adorned on the walls were the stars and stripes of the US flag and the national emblem of the bald eagle.

A moment of silence ensued as the US President Barack Obama walked in and faced the 10 Malaysian civil society leaders lined up in front of him.

But the serious mood was switched to one that was light and casual when Obama smiled and said: “let’s relax”, asking everyone to grab a seat and sit around in a circle.

“We were all told to stand but when he came in he said, ‘why is everybody standing and let’s each of us go grab a chair and sit around in a circle’,” recalled Ambiga with a laugh.

Datuk S.Ambiga, the Malaysian Human Rights Society (Hakam) representative who met the US president with nine others to share about civil liberty issues yesterday at the Ritz Carlton hotel here, said Obama even picked up his own chair and refused to let others do it for him.

“He even picked up his own chair; he didn’t expect anyone to get a chair for him and said, 'no, no I can pick up my own chair'. That immediately put everybody at ease.” Ambiga said when contacted via phone.

“He was very easy to talk to. The minute he walked in, he put us all at ease,” she said.

Bar Council President Christopher Leong said he was pleasantly surprised that the US leader did not have any air or formalities about him.

“We all got our chairs and sat in a small, tight circle, almost like an Alcoholic Anonymous meeting,” Leong told Astro AWANI.

“He was very disarming, at ease and engaging. He spoke our language,” he said.

Ambiga said the discussion was initially planned for only 15 minutes but went on for a good 50 minutes.

“Initially it was 15 minutes, but we got nearly an hour. So we can’t complain about not having enough time,” said the former bar council president.

Ambiga said the NGOs raised many human rights issues. Each one of them raised different issues as they all were from different organisations. They had a range of issues relating to religious extremism; issues on racism, the increase of racism in this country, minority rights.

“I raised free and fair elections, so did Maria. Maria also raised issues relating to extremism. I also raised the Anwar Ibrahim issue and the treatment of the opposition,” added Ambiga.

Meanwhile, Ambiga also recalls the time she met the First Lady, Michelle Obama and Hilary Clinton in 2009 to receive her Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage 2009 award in conjunction with International Women’s Day.

“That was an amazing experience. Being in Washington, in the midst of two very powerful and dynamic ladies, it was special in its own way,” Ambiga ended.