Magelang – Sholeh, owner of a five-foot meatball stall in the Bandongan District, Magelang, received a lot of happiness. The reason is, his wares were visited by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, on Monday (29/1) afternoon.
His five and dime store became the resting place for Jokowi and Prabowo to eat meatballs together after attending the inauguration of Graha Utama at the Indonesian Military Academy (Akmil) in Magelang.
“Today, January 29, Alhamdulillah, my stall received unexpected guests, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Mr. Jokowi, and Mr. Prabowo were able to come to my stall in Bandongan,” Sholeh said happily.
Sholeh was very grateful that the event of eating together with both of them went smoothly. According to him, Jokowi and Prabowo seemed to really enjoy his meatball preparations with the addition of fresh coconut water.
In fact, before, he admitted to being doubtful about his ability to prepare hundreds of meatball orders a day before Jokowi and Prabowo’s visit agenda. In addition to preparing meatball dishes for both of them, he also made 400 portions to be given free to the residents.
“The day before the preparation, the Paspampres from the central came to me personally and asked for permission for the state guests,” Sholeh said.
“I asked myself, can I prepare it or not? Actually, I was doubtful, but I had to be optimistic and strong. It turns out now everything can run smoothly,” he continued.
Sholeh also said his family was very happy to take photos with Jokowi and Prabowo. Moreover, he and his elementary school-aged son were very happy to have the opportunity to shake hands directly with Prabowo.
“I also shook hands with Mr. Prabowo. Here is a photo of it. Alhamdulillah, it was unexpected,” said Sholeh.
He considered Prabowo, whom he met for the first time, as very kind and friendly. “From my personal point of view, he’s a good person. I can’t describe it in words. He was able to eat my meatballs himself,” he explained.
Sholeh revealed that during the handshake moment, Prabowo expressed his wish for his meatball business, which he has been pioneering until now, to be more successful. “He said, ‘always successful’ (from Prabowo),” Sholeh said.
He also prayed that Prabowo could lead this country so that all parties keep united.
“May Mr. Prabowo always be healthy and able to lead this country to remain united in diversity, E pluribus unum,” he said.
At the location, not only Jokowi and Prabowo were present, but also several artists and celebrities 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 were seen wearing plain white shirts. (SENOPATI)
