A MOUNT Gambier man’s search to find his biological parents is one step closer after a social media post transcended oceans to connect him with his long-lost family.
A post on popular photo-sharing application Instagram culminated in a positive result for Setio Shanahan, ending a 20-year search to find his roots.
“I grew up in Mount Gambier and all you see is white faces and white people,” he said.
“There were some people around who were Asian, but they were not Indonesian.
“Even though Indonesia is the closest country to Australia, I was living the furthest part away.”
The Indonesian-born Mr Shanahan was put up for adoption as a baby and enjoyed a happy childhood with his family in Mount Gambier.
While he loved the life he had, he was always curious about the place from which he came.
“When I was a teenager, I started going through changes mentally and physically and started wondering what my heritage was like,” he said.
“Everyone said to me ‘you should be happy for the opportunities you have’, but I kind of felt sad and empty as well as happy.
“Unless you know where or what you came from, it is hard to be happy.”
As a teenager, Mr Shanahan found the first piece of his family puzzle in a box tucked away in a cupboard.
He found an image of a young woman and a letter signed by another woman.
However, after the initial discovery he was unable to find the photograph and letter again.
In the years that passed, Mr Shanahan said he never forgot about the picture.
His efforts to trace his family were reinvigorated after a recent trip to the island country.
Armed with the little knowledge he had, Mr Shanahan traveled more than 4400km to the port city of Surabaya.
“I did not realise that Surabaya was the size of Sydney, which made things difficult,” he said.
“My wife and I travelled around visiting churches, but did not find any answers.”
Upon his return to Australia, Mr Shanahan asked his adopted parents to find the photograph he had once seen tucked away in the cupboard.
His mother brought the photo, along with three others and an envelope containing the letter to his house the very next day.
“I read the letter which was quite remarkable and I realised ‘hold on, I have got more information here’,” he said.
“The letter was signed with my grandma’s name and the fact there were two young girls aged 11 and about 14 or 15, but that is all I had.
“I decided to post the photographs on Instagram with hashtags like adopted child, Indonesia, Surabaya and looking for family.”
A couple of days later, Mr Shanahan received a message that would change his life forever.
“I looked at my phone and I had a message saying ‘Hello Sir, why do you have a picture of my mum?’,” he said.
“There was another message saying ‘can we please talk’.”
It was revealed the two messages were from Mr Shanahan’s cousins.
In the wake of the reunion, Mr Shanahan said he “did not get much sleep” and spent five hours on WhatsApp and Instagram comprehending the story.
“It was quite amazing what they knew and what they wanted to know about me,” he said.
“When they showed their mother’s the post, they could not imagine how I was found.
“My name is Setio Purnomo and I took on Setio Purnomo-Shanahan when I came to Australia.
“I was known as ‘Yoyo’.
“When my parents adopted me, I called myself Adik, which means younger sibling.”
According to Mr Shanahan, his grandmother, who ultimately put him up for adoption, was a successful business woman who had married and had four girls and two boys.
A maid who worked at the residence “somehow” got pregnant and had a child – Mr Shanahan.
Mr Shanahan said his father’s idenity was still unknown, but it was either one of the boys or his grandfather.
He said although there were many questions that needed to be answered, he hoped his story would prove as an inspiration for people in similar situations.
“I think the biggest thing for me and hopefully other people to take from this is not to give up,” he said.
“We hear a lot about social media being used for the wrong reasons, but this is an example of it being used in a positive way.”
