This is Malaysian Barrack Obama

DOUBLE-TAKE: Local lawyer says even his parents started calling him Obama

KUALA LUMPUR: YOUNG lawyer Iman Ishak always causes people to do a double take when he walks into a room because of his resemblance to the 44th and current American President Barack Obama.

Things could get pretty interesting for Iman this weekend when Obama, the first African-American to hold the office, will be in Malaysia as part of a seven-day, four-country Asian tour that include Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Being an Obama lookalike has resulted in some amusing experiences for Iman.

One of them was at Madame Tussauds, London's famous celebrity waxwork attraction last year.

"While I was posing next to Obama's waxwork figure in Madame Tussauds' recreation of the Oval Office complete with the Resolute desk used by presidents since 1880, I was surprised to be the centre of attention.

"Other tourists, who had been waiting in line to have their pictures taken with the waxwork figure, noticed the resemblance, fished out their cameras and started snapping my picture.

"While traveling overseas, tourists also approached me and commented on my looks."

Iman said he did not notice his resemblance to the US president until people around him and family members kept commenting on it.

"My university lecturer was one of the first to point it out. One day, someone brought in a newspaper clipping of Obama when he had just started campaigning for the US presidency in 2008.

"My lecturer looked at the photo and said to me, 'Hey, that looks like you', but I still didn't see it then.

"Only when others started to tell me the same thing did I start to believe there was a similarity. The icing on the cake was when even my parents started calling me Obama."

Iman said he had since grown used to the stares and stage whispers from strangers.

"Asians, unlike foreigners, are too shy to bring it up, but I really don't mind."

To date, nothing extraordinary or life-changing has happened to him as a result of being an Obama doppelgänger.

"So far, I haven't gotten any offers to be an Obama impersonator. "But I must admit, it is a good ice- breaker that gets the conversation going when I meet new people and clients at work.

"Plus, it also helps people to remember me more easily."