Wang Yuanyuan

    MARK NDESANDJO, Barack Obama’s half brother and six-year resident of Shenzhen, sent his congratulations to Obama yesterday immediately after the U.S. Democratic senator won the 2008 presidential election.

    Ndesandjo was very happy about his half brother’s victory and sent him his best wishes, Ndesandjo’s best Chinese friend and business partner Sui Zhengjun told the Shenzhen Daily yesterday.

    “We sent text messages to each other after the election, and he was very happy with the outcome,” Sui said. “He, like many Americans, has very high hopes about Obama’s concept of change and hopes Obama can really bring changes to America. He told me he was very satisfied as not only Obama’s half brother but also as an American.”

    Ndesandjo “disappeared” from the public after media reported at the end of July that he was Obama’s half brother and was a businessman living in Shenzhen. Sui refused to say where Ndesandjo was at the moment, suggesting that the First Half Brother might go back to America to avoid the media.

    Ndesandjo’s company, an Internet-based consulting company, Worldnexus Ltd., in Nanshan District is still under operation despite a July Sunday Times report that Ndesandjo said it was not trading and might restart next year.

    Sui, the register of the company, confirmed that Ndesandjo, the company’s former senior partner, had left the company at the beginning of this year for personal reasons but would come back in 2009.

    “The company is still under normal operations. It will not be affected by any person’s coming and going,” Sui said.

    Ndesandjo’s mobile was switched off yesterday morning and turned on later after the election was finished. However, several calls by the Shenzhen Daily went unanswered.

    After Ndesandjo’s identity was revealed, the wine producers of Shenyang Dragon Medical Co. Ltd., Liaoning Province, invited Ndesandjo to be their product spokesman. Ndesandjo turned down the offer, saying that he would think about it after the election.

    Sui said Ndesandjo still had no intention to do so, adding that his friend was “not that kind of person and preferred a quiet life.”

    Ndesandjo is the son of Obama’s late father and his third wife. He came to Shenzhen from Florida in 2002 and is now engaged to a Chinese woman from Henan Province.

    The Shenzhen Daily first wrote about his life in a March 11, 2004 report. The story, titled “More than just donating,” described his charity activities for orphans at Shenzhen Social Welfare Center.