Aiken from 'Idol' sings in Indonesian

Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Clay Aiken, American Idol runner-up, has begun his debut tour in Indonesia this week. But rather than performing any songs, he was visiting the tsunami-ravaged province of Aceh as an ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Fresh from his three-day trip that ended on Wednesday, Aiken said in Jakarta on Thursday that he was in Aceh as part of a fact-finding mission for the U.S. UNICEF committee.

The committee has raised money for tsunami victims, and the Acehnese have benefited from this, particularly in helping children continue their education.

"The trip was for fact-finding purposes. There are citizens in the U.S. who have offered their time, effort, money and resources. There are some who try to find out where their money is going, what type of work is being done," he said.

Aiken said that, so far, all the U.S. funding had been well- distributed to needy projects.

He said he also took part in publicizing UNICEF's School in the Box program for Acehnese students. He said that the most important thing to do was to keep children in school, and for that, the countries devastated by the tsunami needed long-term support.

"Because of that, we'll see children smiling and resuming their normal lives as far as they can. I think that's the picture that I want to see; what I hope to see is definitely the image that I saw when I was there -- of children, families, who have the hope of seeing their lives being rebuilt."

He became famous after his performance in the 2002 series of American Idol, when he came second after Ruben Studdard. In 2003, his debut solo album Measure of a Man sold over 2.6 million copies overall and earned him a Double Platinum sales certificate from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

But rarely have we seen his passion for education, especially for people with disabilities. In 2003, Aiken set up the Bubel/Aiken Foundation, whose mission is to encourage and facilitate programs that enable children with disabilities to integrate better with able-bodied people.

Aiken, who was born on Nov. 30, 1978, was named the U.S. Fund for UNICEF national ambassador in 2004. The native of Raleigh, North Carolina, is committed to supporting education programs for children.

He graduated from the University of North Carolina -- Charlotte, with a special education degree in December 2003.

"I am a teacher in the U.S. and have set up a foundation in the U.S. for children with disabilities. I think something like that sort of reflects what was going on here. The idea of the Bubel/Aiken foundation is also included here -- allowing all children to have access to all opportunities, regardless of disability."

He said his mission as an ambassador was to help children, with or without disabilities, in many areas like those hit by natural disaster, or in war-torn areas, to have access to basic needs like clean water, nutrition or other activities like education. His next tour would be of Uganda.

"After all, to be part of this does give me an opportunity in some way to teach on a larger scale. I'm not necessarily in a class room every day, but I'm in a situation where I hope to bring information to people."

Aiken showed up in a casual outfit -- a green-striped, long- sleeved top, Bermuda shorts and sneakers. He did not look like a star, and his modesty has won the hearts of Indonesians. He was accompanied by new UNICEF country director for Indonesia Gianfranco Rotigliano.

A UNICEF staffer said she was deeply impressed by Aiken.

"I asked him for a photograph along with me, I told him that my son adores him. He humbly said, 'Yes ma'am'. You know, I am also his fan, I shed tears the moment he sang Bridge over Troubled Water in the Idol final," said the official, who asked to remain anonymous.

She has kept the photograph of her and Aiken as the wallpaper on her computer. "He's very nice," she added.

A photo of Aiken talking to Acehnese children in a camp for displaced persons has attracted the attention of many Indonesian fans. To their disappointment, however, Aiken was not here to sing.

"Quite a lot of people called UNICEF and asked about Clay. I told them we have no information about his visit to Jakarta; he was accomplishing his job in Aceh," the official said.

But Aiken did sing something in Indonesian to Acehnese children. He sang an excerpt of an Indonesian scout song Disini Senang Disana Senang (We're Happy Here and There) to the delight of the audience at Thursday's news conference.

"I didn't do so well at the song, I tried, but I still have trouble with the (Indonesian) language. I do remember (singing) disini senang disana senang dimana-mana hatiku senang (we are happy, here and there, we are happy everywhere). And I could count satu, dua, tiga (one, two, three)," to the applause of the spectators.

He said he had learned that from Ferry Salim, Indonesian actor and UNICEF's Indonesian national ambassador.