Obama promotes tolerance in Jakarta

Following another week of dust-ups between the media and President Donald Trump, his predecessor shared a bit of wisdom from the other side of the world about tolerance.

"I wasn't worried about what was in the newspapers today," former president Barack Obama said on Saturday during a nostalgic visit to Indonesia's capital, his childhood home.

"What I was worried about was, 'What are they going to write about me 20 years from now when I look back?"'

Obama has largely stayed away from US politics and the Trump administration, but he did tout one of his accomplishments while in office.

"In Paris, we came together around the most ambitious agreement in history about climate change, an agreement that even with the temporary absence of American leadership, can still give our children a fighting chance," he said.

Trump shocked many countries last month by announcing he was pulling out of the accord. He has also had a difficult relationship with members of the press and was recently condemned by Democrats and Republicans for a tweet that attacked a female MSNBC host.

Obama stressed the importance of stepping away from news sites where only like-minded views are shared, and warned about social media giving rise to resentment of minorities and bad treatment of people.

The former president was greeted by a crowd of thousands, including leaders, students and businesspeople, in Jakarta, where he opened the Fourth Congress of Indonesian Diaspora. He is wildly popular in Indonesia, where many view him as an adopted son. A statue of the boy still remembered as "Barry" stands outside his old elementary school.

He reminisced about moving to Jakarta in 1967 when he was just six, shouting, "Indonesia bagian dari diri saya!" or "Indonesia is part of me!"

Obama moved back to Hawaii when he was 10 to live with his grandparents. But he said he has never forgotten the years he spent in Indonesia.

"My time here made me cherish respect for people's differences," he said.