Southeast Asia sprouts another Obama clone

Now Anas has a challenger. With Obama currently visiting the region, arriving in South Korea from Japan on Saturday, another look-alike has been discovered in Malaysia, where the president is also scheduled to appear.

Iman Ishak, 25, is a former DJ turned lawyer who catches eyes with his distinct and noticeable resemblance to Obama, says The Star newspaper in Malaysia. Like Anas, Iman always hears people whispering about him or notices their heads spin with double takes as he passes. He never feels offended by the whispers or the stares and often walks up to them and says, “Hey!” 

Yes, the gapes can get overwhelming and annoying, but he often finds the attention quirky and funny – especially when his friends do the staring. “I realised I looked like Obama during his 2008 election campaign,” Iman tells The Star. “An English-language lecturer was reading an article about him and turned to me and said I looked like Obama. It was only then that it seemed obvious to me.” Well, that’s what his friends had been telling him for a while – the smile, the ears and even the general cool, collected demeanour, all comparable to the US president. 

Iman once visited Madame Tussauds in London with his family, and naturally there was a wax likeness of Obama. All the other tourists froze when Iman appeared, not knowing if the real thing had come to check out the copy. Another time Iman had the job of luring the hugely popular American hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan to Malaysia. One of the band members, Raekwon, saw a picture of Iman and yelled, “Who is this Obama-looking dude?”

Iman is unlikely to ever face the same job demand as his Indonesian counterpart, however. Anas’ workload was already in decline by the time Obama was running for re-election, matching the president’s popularity ratings. “I still get Obama work sometimes, but of course it’s not like it was before. Back then the whole world had their eyes on Obama,” Anas tells Agence France-Presse. So he’s gone back to being mostly a photographer.

Of course Obama’s tour of the region has goosed up demand for both “impostors” again, at least temporarily. Iman heard about the impending visit to Malaysia of his “identical twin” from friends and family and everyone was in favour of him trying to arrange a meeting with the American VIP. Iman doesn’t think it’s such a great idea, though. For one thing, he wouldn’t know what to say to Obama if they did meet.

May we suggest that he ask the president if he’d like a “double” at the ready in Washington if the need arises? That way Iman could be shaking hands and posing for pictures at the White House and Obama could go golfing or whatever. (Of course best not to mention the possibility of being attacked by crazed fundamentalists, Muslim or Christian.)