Magelang – Sholeh, the owner of a street food meatball stall in the Bandongan District, Magelang, was overjoyed. His stall was visited by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto on Monday (29/1) afternoon.
His street food stall became a stopping point for Jokowi and Prabowo to eat meatballs together after attending the inauguration of Graha Utama at the Military Academy (Akmil) Magelang.
“Today, on January 29, Alhamdulillah my stall was visited by unexpected guests, the President of Indonesia, Mr. Jokowi, and Mr. Prabowo in my stall in Bandongan,” Sholeh said with joy.
Sholeh was very grateful that the meal with both of them at his place went smoothly. He said that Jokowi and Prabowo seemed to really enjoy his meatball dish with a fresh addition of coconut water.
Beforehand, he admitted that he had doubted his ability to prepare hundreds of portions of meatballs a day before the visit of Jokowi and Prabowo. In addition to preparing meatballs for the two of them, he also made 400 portions to be given for free to the people.
“The day before, the Presidential Security detail came to me and asked for permission for a state visit,” Sholeh said.
“I asked myself, can I prepare it? I was actually doubtful, but I had to be confident and strong. It turns out that everything can run smoothly now,” he continued.
Sholeh also mentioned that his family was very happy to have a photo taken with Jokowi and Prabowo. Especially, he and his elementary school-aged son were very happy to have the opportunity to shake hands with Prabowo directly.
“I also got to shake hands with Mr. Prabowo. Here, there’s a photo. Alhamdulillah, it was truly unexpected,” Sholeh said.
He also mentioned that Prabowo, who he met for the first time that day, was very kind and friendly. “From my personal point of view, he’s good. It can’t be described in words. He even ate my meatballs,” he explained.
Sholeh revealed that during the handshake, Prabowo wished him success in his meatball business. “He said, ‘May you always be successful’ (from Prabowo),” Sholeh said.
He also prayed for Prabowo to be able to lead the country so that everyone can remain united.
“May Mr. Prabowo always be healthy and (hopefully) can lead this country to remain united in diversity,” he said.
In that location, not only Jokowi and Prabowo were present, but also a number of artists and social media influencers such as Raffi Ahmad, Nagita Slavina, Atta Halilintar, Ria Ricis, Lula Lahfah, Rachel Vennya, Salim Nauderer, Tara Budiman, Christian Bong, Celine Evangelista, and Aan Story. They appeared together wearing plain white shirts. (SENOPATI)
