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Anna
Marries
Lolo |
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While
studying for her bachelor's degree, Anna met
another foreign student at the university. She met and
eventually marries Lolo Soetoro Mangunharjo
in 1967. Lolo would later become an oil company
executive.
Lolo, also a Muslim,
promptly moved his new family to Jakarta,
Indonesia, the worlds most populous Muslim country. In Audacity of
Hope, Obama wrote, "Lolo followed Islam. . .I looked to Lolo for
guidance." Obama
lived in Indonesia for nearly five years as a child. He had a
pet ape named Tata, and sampled exotic foods -- dog, snake and
grasshopper.
Lolo and Anna had one daughter, Obama's
step-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng.
It is she who
places Obama in
Jakarta, Indonesia, from 1967 through 1972.
In Obama's account of this move, he
states his mother was shocked to discover how her new husband reverted
to chauvinist Indonesian ways as soon as he left America and that
Indonesia was a nasty right-wing dictatorship (although the latter
doesn’t jibe with her spending much of the rest of her life in that
country).
In "Dreams," he inadvertently sheds some light on his formative years
and the
political views of his mother, an anthropologist and Islamophile who
hated America and subsequently goes native.
"Looking back, I'm not sure Lolo ever fully understood what my mother
was going through ... why the things he was working so hard to provide
for her seemed only to increase the distance between them ... He landed
a job in the government relations department of an American oil company.
... Sometimes I would overhear him and my mother arguing in their
bedroom, usually about her refusal to attend his company dinner parties,
where American businessmen from Texas and Louisiana would slap Lolo's
back and boast about the palms they had greased to obtain the new
offshore drilling rights, while their wives complained to my mother
about the quality of Indonesian help. He would ask her how it
would look for him to go alone, and remind her that these were her own
people, and my mother's voice would rise to almost a shout."
"They (Americans) are not my people!"
Ann
filed for divorce in 1980. As with Obama's father, she kept in
regular contact with Lolo and did not pursue alimony or child support,
according to divorce records.
Lolo died in 1987. |
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Indonesian
Law |
"The Indonesian Citizenship Law states that
children's citizenship is derived solely from the citizenship of the
father. Children of citizen mothers and foreign fathers are
considered foreigners and require visas to remain in the country until
the age of 18, at which time they may apply for citizenship. They
are prohibited from attending public schools and must attend private,
international schools, which usually are more expensive."
U. S. State Department |
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Sister Maya |
Obama's
half-sister, Maya Kassandra Soetoro, was
born on August 15, 1970, in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Anna registered her birth as "born
in Honolulu" shortly after her birth, as well. Maya
would have a State of Hawaii Certification of Live Birth (COLB), just like the
one Obama posted on the Internet.
Maya would also attend the private Punahou School.
It was Maya, who has said that Obama was legally adopted by her father,
Lolo Soetoro, and
Maya also said, "There was always a
joke between my mom and Barack that he
would be the first black president." |
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The
Drop
Off |
In 1972, Ann took Barack
Jr.
back to Hawaii to live with her parents, who
lived in a modest two-bedroom Honolulu apartment, at 1617 S. Beretania
St., in order to
save money for Obama’s tuition to
attend the Punahou Academy, an elite private school. Madelyn would
live at that address until her death on November 2nd, 2008.
Anna and Obama's half-sister Maya
returned to Indonesia. Except for occasional visits to Hawaii, Dunham,
who traveled throughout Southeast Asia on business, would remain
based in Jakarta for the remainder of her life. |
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Splitsville |
Anna
filed for divorce from Lolo Soetoro on
June 15th, 1980. The divorce was granted on August 28th, 1980,
took effect on November 5th, 1980, and closed on November 26,1988.
The documents show Anna and Lolo were "lawfully married to each
other" and "have 1 child below age 18 and 1 child above age 18 but still
dependent on the parties for education." Lolo was not required to
pay any support and Anna resumed the use of Stanley Ann Dunham as her
name.
Further documentation has been uncovered by independent
investigators. These documents, "Information Concerning Child
Care" (page1 and
page2), signed on June 15,
1980, (click to enlarge) show
that:
Lolo and Anna ceased living together in August of 1974.
Lolo visited every three months for the purpose of seeing Maya, his
daughter.
Lolo had not contributed to the support of Anna and the
two children since 1974, was living with another woman and wished to
remarry.
Under living arrangements, the documents states, "oldest
child in university and mother resides with youngest child in 4 bedroom
home provided by mother's employer (USAID); household includes 2
full-time live-in domestics."
"Mother's work hours coincide with
youngest child school hours so child care not a problem."
"Mother
spends approximately $300 per month on domestic help, including after
hours babysitting, if necessary."
And, this is interesting,
although Maya was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, of an Indonesian father,
Anna claims, "both mother and child are U. S. citizens, while father is
an Indonesian citizen." |
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Was There An Adoption |
Obama arrived in Indonesia at about the age of
five according to most accounts, although it was possible he arrived at
the age of six, according to a few sources. At some time, Lolo Soetoro
adopted Barry, and Barry would have automatically become an Indonesian citizen according to the country’s laws in the
1960’s, which stipulated any child is immediately granted Indonesian citizenship upon
completion of the adoption process.
As evidence that an adoption
occurred, there are the following artifacts:
1. The registration document from
the Roman Catholic, Franciscus Assisi Primary School, in Jakarta,
Indonesia. Barry Soetoro is registered as a "citizen" of
Indonesia.
2. According to Indonesian legal experts, only Indonesian citizens could
attend state-operated public schools.
3. In the divorce
documents (page1 and
page2), Lolo Soetoro is
described as "father" -- "husband has not contributed to support of wife
and children" -- "oldest child in university" -- and this curious note,
"both mother and child are U. S. citizens while father an Indonesian
citizen"
There is accumulating evidence that Anna was something
of an expert at taking advantage living abroad, while carefully keeping
one foot in the US of A for herself and her children. |
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©
Copyright Beckwith 2009
All right reserved
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