KUALA LUMPUR — US President Barack Obama, on-route to the Philippines after completing a 3-day visit to Malaysia, was denied entry into the presidential plane Air Force One by the Secret Service after his durian-tainted breath triggered the aircraft’s hazardous gas sensors.

Mr Obama, who had just enjoyed a large serving of the thorny fruit known for its pungent, strong smell yet delicious taste, was stopped by his own security personnel at the aircraft door and asked to return to his armoured limousine and taken to a nearby airport VIP lounge where he could ‘decontaminate’ his mouth.

A Secret Service spokeswoman said that this drastic measure was unusual, but needed to be taken for the safety of the entire plane, as the Asian fruit’s overwhelming smell, quoted by some as ‘reeking of garbage stink’, could overcome the other personnel and endanger the flight.


“We are truly sorry to do this to the Commander-in-Chief, but we have strict rules about toxic smells on our flights,” said the spokesperson who declined to be named. “Our job is to ensure the security of the president, but if he poses a danger to himself by consuming such thing, we have to make a stand.

“We can’t have our pilots or other staff suffocating just because Mr Obama says ‘Hi’ to them, unleashing the smell of hell unto them. Heck, I don’t think even our delicate electronic instruments could withstand such a rancid scent. A couple of his security details had to be taken to the emergency room just now when he flashed his grin at the crowd before we left the hotel,” she said.

“So, unless POTUS is willing to spend the entire flight to Manila wearing a biohazard suit, we simply cannot allow him on the plane. No way.”
Met at the lounge, Mr Obama said that he could not resist having a go at the durians he saw by the side of the road as his entourage drove by, as ‘it brought back happy memories of his growing up years in Indonesia’.

“I was just enjoying the ride, Skyping to Michelle and the kids when I saw it — a huge, beautiful pile of Musang King durian being sold by an old Chinese fellow,” said Obama, in between chewing spearmint gum and gargling Listerine vigorously. “Suddenly my head was filled with all those sweet times I spent with my buddies in my mom’s village just outside Jakarta in 1967. Jumping into rivers buck naked and picking fresh mangoes and rambutans at Farmer Wak Djomo’s orchard. His durians were just divine. Golly, I LOVE Malaysia!

“I’m sorry if I caused a few hours of delay, but look, I’m the Chief. I just had to get me some.”

The entourage made the impromptu pit stop where the president spent about half an hour eating 3 durians before continuing on his journey. The flight to Manila is expected to resume in six hours, after getting clearance from Hazmat personnel.
The durian seller, Mr Denny Lim, 67, said that while he was initially surprised by the VIP visit to his fruit stall, he felt honoured and glad to see a durian lover rediscovering his roots.

“At first I thought I was in trouble with polis one,” said Mr Lim. “The big black cars passed by with polis bike and all, then they all stopped and reversed. These big, big white men came and surrounded me, and then this black man came, bought 2 durians, squatted beside me and started opening them. He looked like he hadn’t had durians for years, so I kesian and gave him one free. I think okay lor, we must treat tourist very nice-nice one. Visit Malaysia Year what.

“But he paid with US dollars, I said I got no change in US dollar, so he told me to keep the 100 dollars,” said Mr Lim smiling.

While Mr Lim is happy with the president’s durian indulgence, it is said that some others may not be as pleased. According to some other unverified sources, the order to quarantine the president came all the way from Washington DC — the First Lady herself.

“She was on video chat with him when he made the decision to make the durian pit stop,” said the source. “He didn’t tell her why he had to drop her call all of a sudden, but she saw his face, and she knew. She had seen it before when the First Couple visited an Asian store in Texas last year and chanced upon a pack of frozen durians.

“She made the call to the Secret Service with specific instructions to ‘not let POTUS in the plane until he gets rid of that wretched breath’, and between offending the president or pissing off his wife, we knew the better option.”

Gara - Gara Durian, Obama dilarang masuk pesawat Air Force One

Mungkin tak pernah terpikir oleh presiden Barack Obama, gara – gara makan durian, orang nomor satu Amerika Serikat ini, didepan pintu pesawat dilarang masuk kedalam pesawat kepresidenan Air Force One. Obama diminta kembali ke mobil limousine anti pelurunya untuk diantar ke VIP Lounge Bandar udara dimana dia dapat melakukan dekontaminasi mulutnya dari bau durian.

Langkah ini diambil setelah salah seorang sekuriti yang ikut pesta makan durian dengan Obama memicu alarm sensor sensitive pelacak gas berbahaya pesawat saat dia masuk pesawat. Barack Obama yang baru akan masuk kabin Air force One, langsung dicegah lalu diminta kembali ke limousine tersebut

Seorang juru bicara wanita Secret Service mengatakan tindakan melarang Presiden barack Obama masuk pesawat, memang tidak umum tapi harus diambil demi keselamatan penerbangan pesawat Air Force One. Sebab bau tajam kurang sedap dari buah durian, bisa mempengaruhi orang lain ( tentunya termasuk pilot ) sehingga dapat mengancam penerbangan.

“Kami minta maaf harus melakukan tindakan itu kepada Commander in Chief ( Barack Obama), sebab kami menerapkan peraturan ketat pada bau toxic dalam penerbangan. Tugas kami adalah menjamin keamanan presiden, tetapi bila bahaya itu berada pada dirinya akibat makan durian, kami tidak ada pilihan lain”. Jelasnya dikutip Nose4News.wordpress.com
“Pilot atau staf lainnya jadi susah nafas hanya karena pak Obama mengatakan “Hi” kepada mereka sambil mengeluarkan bau tajam durian. Juga alat – alat elektronik canggih kami bisa juga “tak tahan” akan bau tajam durian.Beberapa dari petugas keamanan Obama digiring ke ruang darurat karena menyeringai kepada kerumunan orang sebelum kami meninggalkan hotel” ujarnya menambahkan keterangannya.

Hari itu adalah hari terakhir kunjungan resmi Presiden Barack Obama ke Malaysia dan akan melanjutkan kunjungannya ke Filipina. Ditemui di VIP Lounge, Obama menceritakan bahwa dia tidak bisa menahan diri ketika melihat buah durian di jual di pinggir jalan saat iringan mobil rombongannya lewat , sekilas memicu ingatannya akan kenangan manis masa kecilnya di Indonesia.

Durian Musang King
“Saya sedang menikmati perjalanan dan sedang Skyping dengan Michele dan anak – anak ketika mata saya melihat, setumpuk duran Musang King besar – besar di jual oleh pedagang tua china,”ujarnya sambil antara mengunyah permen karet dan kumur mulutnya dengan Listerine.” Tiba2 ingatan saya menerawang ke masa lalu penuh kenangan manis saat saya bermain dengan teman – teman dikampung ibu saya diluar kota Jakarta pada tahun 1967. Terjun telanjang ke kali memetik buah manga dan rambutan di kebun petani Wak Djomo. Durian dari kebunnya luar biasa enaknya.

“ Maafkan saya bila saya membuat penerbangan terlambat beberapa jam. Boleh dong, karena I’M the Chief. Saya harus mendapatkannya. Rombongan presiden barack Obama berhenti untuk pesta makan tiga durian sekitar setengah jam sebelum melanjutkan perjalanan
Penjual buah durian, Denny Lim dibuatnya terperanjat, seseorang VVIP mampir ke kios buahnya. Dia merasakan terhormat dan amat senang menjumpai seorang pecinta buah durian menemukan akrnya.

“ Pada mulanya saya kira, saya bermasalah dengan Polis. Mobil hitam besar dikawal polis bermotor lewat, tiba – tiba berhenti dan kembali ke tempat saya. Orang – orang tegap bule datang langsung mengepung saya, disusul oleh orang kulit hitam yang membeli dua durian dan minta saya membelahnya. Tampaknya dia sudah lama sekali tidak pernah makan durian, jadi saya kasihan dan memberi satu buah durian kepadanya. Kan kita harus melayani turis dengan baik – baik di Visit Malaysia year,” Cerita Denny

“Dia membayar dengan Dollar AS dan saya katakan tidak punya kembalian dalam Dollar AS. Jadi dia mengatakan kepada saya simpan sisa 100 Dollarnya,” sambung Denny sambil tersenyum lebar.

Menurut sumber yang tidak mau disebutkan namanya, menjelaskan untuk karantina presiden datang dari Washington DC dari First Lady sendiri. “Dia ( Michelle ) sedang video chat dengan Obama saat mengambil keputusan untuk mampir ke kios durian. Dia ( Obama) tidak menyebutkan kenapa mendadak putuskan chatting mereka , tapi dia (Michelle) pernah melihat raut wajahnya, langsung tahu sebabnya. Dia pernah melihat raut wajah yang sama saat mereka mampir di sebuah toko Asia di Texas tahun lalu di mana dia (Obama) membeli satu paket durian beku,” Ungkapnya

Sumber tersebut melanjutkan “ The first lady menghubungi Secret Service dengan intruksi khusus,” larang POTUS masuk pesawat sampai dia menghilangkan bau tajam dari mulutnya.” Antara Offending the president or pissing of his wife,” kita tahu opsi mana yang terbaik,” ujarnya.

sumber : Majalah Angkasa No. 9 Juni 2014