Sabah, American writer Agnes Keith’s Land Below the Wind from 1939, is not only full of surprises - there are also no secrets in Sabah for long, as the locals will proudly tell you.

Newly-installed US President Barack Hussein Obama does not only have his paternal roots in Kenya – his mother is from Kansas – and an Indonesian childhood and relatives but he has also close family ties with Sabah as well, Sandakan and Kudat in particular.

Kudat has the dubious distinction of being the poorest place in Malaysia but perhaps not for long if a statue of Mazu, the Goddess of the Sea, is built there soon, according to former Sabah Chief Minister Chong Kah Kiat, who has received “written pledges on the matter from the goddess”.

obama sabah link 230109 01 Obama’s Sabah connection comes through Dr Maya Kassandra Soetoro, 39, his Indonesian half-sister who is married to Canadian-born University of Hawaii Assistant Professor Dr Konrad Ng, 35, who is the son of Howard Ng from Sandakan and Joan from Kudat.

Maya and Obama have the same mother, Stanley Ann Dunham (1942 to 1995), an American cultural anthropologist who first married the new US president’s father, Barack Hussein Obama Sr (1936-1987) in Hawaii on Feb 2, 1961.

The marriage lasted only a year and ended in divorce in 1964. He returned to Kenya where he had six other sons and a daughter with three other women.

In 1967, Stanley Ann Dunham married Lolo Soetoro (1936-1987), an Indonesian oil manager, which saw the young Obama spending some of his childhood in Indonesia.

After Maya was born in 1970, Dunham divorced her second husband and left with her daughter to join her son who was by this time living with his grandparents in Hawaii. She returned for several visits and helped build Indonesia’s microfinance programme, the largest in the world today, from 1988 to 1992.

obama sabah link 230109 02 Maya teaches American history, global studies, peace studies and social studies at La Pietra Hawaii School for Girls. She has a Phd in Education and a MA in Second Language Studies from the University of Hawaii and a MA in English from the University of New York.

Her husband, Konrad, earned a Phd in Political Science from the University of Hawaii and a MA in Contemporary Social and Political Thought from the University of Victoria. He has a BA in Philosophy from McGill University.

They have a daughter, Suhaila, 4.

An important place of origin

In an email interview with the Star last year, Konrad describes Obama as exceptionally brilliant. “He has a thorough understanding of the challenges we face and sound judgment on how we should address these challenges,” wrote Konrad.

“Barack is a dedicated family man and cares deeply about transforming the world into a better place so that all families will have the same opportunities to do better.”

He describes Sabah and Malaysia as “an important place of origin”. “In addition to a large extended family, we have many good friends in Malaysia. We try to visit Malaysia every few years. It is a special country to us,” said Konrad.

"Maya also cherishes her Indonesian roots and continues to speak Indonesian when she can. She’s active in the local Indonesian community and visits Indonesia every few years.”

barack obama inauguration as american president 210109 01 Time magazine, early last year, described Obama as his mother’s son. “In his wide-open rhetoric about what can be instead of what was, you see a hint of his mother,” Time wrote.

“It turns out that Obama’s nascent career peddling hope is a family business. He inherited it. And while it is true that he has not been profoundly tested, he was raised by someone who was.”

One of Obama’s Indonesian teachers recalled on YouTube that he was the only one in her class to state his ambition as “to be president of the United States” when she asked her students about their ambition in life. The others mostly wanted to be professionals.

Konrad’s parents still live in Burlington, Canada, where the couple owns an art gallery. The Hamilton Spectator quotes them as saying that they were happy to attend the inauguration of the new US president.

“I wouldn’t say we ever dreamt this,” said Joan Ng, 60. “We are very happy.”

Joan takes it all in her stride and sees the new US president as another family member she’s known for about six years, well before his march to the White House.

Obama visited their Burlington home in the summer of 2004 to attend the Canadian celebration of the marriage of their son and his sister.

“We are very close,” said Joan. “There’s not much that has changed in our relationship. We are still not looking at him as the US President. We are looking at him as a family member.”

A White House visit

But she will admit to some changes. Joan and her husband Howard, 69, and their younger son Perry, 32, had Christmas dinner with the Obamas in Hawaii and for the first time in their lives, they had to have credentials to get past the Secret Service and into the family compound.

“They are very organized,” said Joan. “Everyday they ask you about the different functions you might want to attend. Everyday there was something going on. They keep you informed and assure you that everything will be taken care of quickly. We had to email a lot back and forth.”

obama sabah link 230109 03 The couple and their son Perry left for Washington on Saturday night (Jan 17) and met up with Konrad and his family. Early Tues morning, they gathered with the other Obama family members and boarded buses which took them to an 8am church service.

Then, it was back on the buses for the trip to the Capitol to take in the 11 am inauguration ceremony. Later on they took their seats in the Obama family grandstand to watch the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue. “We had to stand to watch the parade but it was very exciting,” said Howard. “We really didn’t know what to expect until we got there.”

The Ngs don’t rule out a visit to the White House in the next few days to chat with Obama about his upcoming visit to Canada although he will be very busy. “He likes Canada,” said Joan. “He likes Toronto. It reminds him of Chicago. He likes Burlington because it’s so small and has a lake. They have a lake too in Chicago.”

The Ngs try to return home every few years to catch up with family members, relatives and friends in Sandakan, Kudat, Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Lumpur.

Back in Sandakan, David Ng Ma Foh, Konrad’s first cousin, hopes to meet Maya and Obama someday. “The last time that Uncle Howard and Aunt Joan came here together with their family including Konrad was in 1998,” David told the local media at his workshop along Jalan Labuk recently.

“Uncle Howard came alone last year and told the rest of the family that his daughter-in-law’s brother was going to be president. Ever since then, we followed the campaign and election with a great deal of interest.”