@america: Cultural outreach to young foreigners

San Francisco Chronicle, Norimitsu Onishi, New York Times, Sunday, March 6, 2011

Go US: A visitor registers at @america , a hi-tech cultural center|
intended to enable Indonesians to interact with that country on their
own terms. JP/Ricky Yudhistira

PST Jakarta, Indonesia -- On the third floor of a shopping mall, around the corner from a Gap Kids and a Wedgwood china outlet, a new tenant is busily promoting what is perhaps the world's biggest brand: America.

The tenant, called @america, represents the U.S. government's first attempt at creating a full-fledged cultural center since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. A high-tech, interactive operation heralded as the digital-age successor to the venerable American Cultural Center, it is also U.S. public diplomacy's latest effort to win over young foreigners, especially in Muslim countries.

Thousands of high school and college students have been bused in from schools in Jakarta, the capital, and its outskirts since @america's opening in December. The technology on display - a giant, supercharged version of Google Earth called Liquid Galaxy, scores of iPads that are available to test, interactive monitors explaining Black History Month - thrilled the teenagers.

It was unclear whether the center had changed their perceptions of the United States, though.

Tech savvy: Young visitors browse
through their e-guides at the @america
center. JP/Ricky Yudhistira

"It doesn't matter what they think of the United States - 'Do you hate us? Do you love us? Are you somewhere in between?' " said Matt McGowan, 36, an American whose company, PT Ganesha Aggies Jaya, has been contracted to run the center.

The State Department's undersecretary for public diplomacy, Judith McHale, described @america as the "first of a new generation of American cultural centers."

Eva Zahrowati, 34, an English teacher at Islamic Senior High School No. 4, said her students had picked up bits of U.S. history during their visit.

She added, however, that the center's location - in one of Jakarta's most tightly guarded malls - created "obstacles" for Indonesians like her students. Visitors must undergo body scans and deposit their bags between two doors to enter @america, and the heavy security had left a bad taste.

"Is America afraid of us?" Zahrowati said.

The technology used by @america impressed Annisa Mutiara, 16, who said her dream was to go to a U.S. university. But Annisa was not swayed by what she assumed was the motivation behind the invitation to her school.

"I believe that America hates Muslims, and I'm a Muslim," she said. "I still believe that after coming here."

@america

Pacific Place Mall 3rd floor #325

Jl. Jendral Sudirman Kav.52-53

Kebayoran Baru, Central Jakarta, 12190

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Experience America at the @america center in Pacific Place Mall, Jakarta, Indonesia