Mantan Presiden Obama Tiba di Bali Dikawal Pasukan Militer Terlatih
Former First Family Fly into Indonesia as Platoons of Highly Trained Commandos Provide Security
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
BARACK dan Michelle Obama, bersama dua anak perempuan mereka, menikmati liburan mewah ke Indonesia - di mana mantan presiden AS pernah tinggal pada dekade 1960an.
Pasukan TNI disiapkan berjaga-jaga di Bali pada Jumat menjelang persiapan liburan lima hari di Four Seasons Resort Bali di Sayan, Ubud, tempat Obama menginap dengan tarif lebih dari Rp32,5 juta per malam.
Mantan presiden AS tersebut kemudian dijadwalkan melakukan perjalanan ke pulau Jawa untuk berbicara di Kongres Diaspora ke-4 Indonesia di Jakarta, di mana dia menghabiskan masa kecilnya setelah ibunya Ann Dunham menikahi suami kedua Lolo Soetoro, seorang pria Indonesia.
Pada Kamis, Barack Obama terlihat di Hawaii, di mana saudara tirinya, Maya Soetoro-Ng, tinggal bersama suami dan dua anaknya. Maya menemani keluarga Obama dalam perjalanan mereka ke Bali pada Jumat.
Keluarga mantan presiden tiba di sebuah bandara militer melalui Guam pada Jumat malam, dengan komandan Pangkalan Udara Ngurah Rai Kolonel I Wayan Superman mengerahkan pasukan pengamanan bersama dengan sejumlah tentara dan petugas polisi.
Sebelum mereka mendarat, komandan pangkalan mengatakan bahwa mereka akan diprioritaskan, walaupun mereka akan berusaha meminimalkan gangguan pada penerbangan lainnya.
Barack dan Michelle juga bergabung dengan Malia, yang berada di jeda tahun sebelum dia kuliah di Harvard pada musim gugur, dan Sasha, yang baru saja merayakan ulang tahunnya yang ke 16 dan mengakhiri pendidikan di Sidwell Friends.
Baik Barack dan Michelle mengenakan celana jins saat mereka disambut di landasan oleh Gubernur Bali Made Mangku Pastika sebelum iring-iringan keluarga menuju ke Ubud.
Keluarga Obama akan menikmati istirahat dan relaksasi di Four Seasons, di mana vila-vila yang berdiri bebas dilengkapi dengan kolam renang pribadi dan teras berjemur yang luas yang menghadap ke sawah subur yang mengelilingi Sungai Ayung.
Dari kelas yoga anti-gravitasi sampai arung jeram di sungai, keluarga Obama akan melakukan banyak kegiatan selama lima hari sebelum mantan presiden tersebut menuju ke Jakarta.
Dia dijadwalkan mengunjungi Yogyakarta, sebuah kota yang terkenal dengan warisan budayanya dimana ibu Obama melakukan penelitian antropologi.
Dia kemudian akan menuju ke ibukota Jakarta hadir sebagai keynote speech di Kongres Diaspora Indonesia, yang dimulai 1 Juli.
"Kami tidak tahu tema apa yang akan menjadi pidato utama Obama, namun kami telah mengusulkan dua tema utama kepadanya: globalisasi dan pluralisme," kata Ketua Dino Patti Djalal kepada wartawan awal bulan ini.
Obama lahir di Honolulu dari ibu Amerika berkulit putih dan ayah asal Kenya setelah mereka bertemu sebagai mahasiswa di University of Hawaii.
Namun orang tuanya bercerai, dan ibunya kemudian menikahi Lolo Soetoro, dengan siapa dia memiliki Maya. Mereka akhirnya pindah ke Indonesia selama beberapa tahun di akhir tahun 1960an sebelum Barack kembali ke Hawaii.
Sejak meninggalkan Gedung Putih, Barack, Michelle dan Sasha telah menetap di sebuah rumah seluas 8.200 kaki persegi di Washington DC sementara anak perempuan mereka yang lebih muda menyelesaikan sekolah menengah atas.
Pasangan mantan presiden ini menikmati kehidupan sebagai warga biasa setelah delapan tahun memimpin AS, terbang ke Pulau Necker milik Richard Branson sebelum berlibur di Italia.
Mereka berdua mencetak buku yang laris terjual, dan mengumumkan rencana untuk membangun Pusat Presiden Obama di Chicago´s Park Jackson untuk melatih dan mendorong generasi muda pemimpin seperti dilansir MailOnline.
BARACK and Michelle Obama, along with their two daughters, are taking a luxury vacation to Indonesia - where the former president lived in the 1960s.
Soldiers fell into formation in the popular tourist destination of Bali on Friday in preparation for the Obamas´ five-day vacation at the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan, Ubud, where villas cost upwards of $2,500 a night.
The former president is then scheduled to travel to the island of Java to speak at the 4th Indonesian Diaspora Congress in Jakarta, where he spent his childhood after his mother Ann Dunham married second husband Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian man.
On Thursday, Barack Obama was spotted in Hawaii, where his half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, lives with her husband and two kids. She accompanied the Obamas on their trip to Bali on Friday.
The family arrived at a military airport via Guam on Friday evening, with Ngurah Rai Military Air Base commander Col. I Wayan Superman enforcing security measures along with scores of soldiers and police officers.
Prior to their landing, the commander told the Jakarta Post the Obamas´ private jet would have priority, although they would try to minimize any disruptions to the other flights.
Barack and Michelle are also joined by Malia, who is on her gap year before she starts college at Harvard in the fall, and Sasha, who recently celebrated her 16th birthday and wrapped up the school year at Sidwell Friends.
Both Barack and Michelle kept it casual in jeans as they were greeted on the tarmac by Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika before the family´s motorcade headed towards Ubud.
The Obamas will be enjoying some rest and relaxation at the Four Seasons, where freestanding villas come with a private pool and a spacious sun terrace overlooking the lush rice fields surrounding the Ayung River.
From anti-gravity yoga classes to rafting on the river, the Obamas will have plenty to do for five days before the former president heads to the island of Java.
He´s scheduled to visit Yogyakarta, a city known for its cultural heritage where Obama´s mother did anthropological research.
He will then head to the capital of Jakartaa keynote speech at the Indonesian Diaspora Congress, which starts July 1.
´We don´t know what the theme will be of Obama´s keynote speech, but we have proposed two main themes to him: globalization and pluralism,´ Chairman Dino Patti Djalal told reporters earlier this month.
Obama was born in Honolulu to a white American mother and a Kenyan father after they met as students at the University of Hawaii.
But his parents divorced, and his mother went on to marry Lolo Soetoro, with whom she had Maya. They eventually moved to Indonesia for a few years in the late 1960s before Barack returned to Hawaii.
Since leaving office, Barack, Michelle and Sasha have settled in a 8,200-square-foot mansion in Washington DC while their younger daughter finishes high school.
The former first couple have been enjoying themselves after eight years, jetting off to Richard Branson´s private Necker Island before vacationing in Italy.
They´ve both scored lucrative book deals, and unveiled plans to construct the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago´s Jackson Park to train and encourage the next generation of leaders.
