Magelang – Sholeh, the owner of a five-foot meatball food cart in the Bandongan District, Magelang, was delighted. His stall was visited by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto on Monday (29/1) afternoon.
His five-foot stall became a stopping place 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, Pak Jokowi, and Pak Prabowo came to my stall in Bandongan,” said Sholeh happily.
Sholeh was very grateful that the joint meal with the two of them at his place went smoothly. According to him, Jokowi and Prabowo seemed to really enjoy his meatball dish with the addition of fresh coconut water.
In fact, he had doubts about his ability to prepare hundreds of orders of meatballs a day before Jokowi and Prabowo’s visit. In addition to preparing the meatball dish for the two of them, he also made 400 portions to be given for free to the residents.
“The preparation the day before was when the Presidential Security Detail (Paspampres) from the center came to me and asked for permission for 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. Turns out everything went smoothly,” he continued.
Sholeh also revealed that his family was very happy to take photos with Jokowi and Prabowo. Moreover, he and his elementary school-aged child were very happy to have the opportunity to shake hands directly with Prabowo.
“I also shook hands with Mr. Prabowo. Here’s the photo. Alhamdulillah, it was unexpected,” said Sholeh.
He judged Prabowo, who he met for the first time in person, as very kind and friendly. “From a personal perspective, he’s good. It can’t be put into words. He even ate my meatballs,” he explained.
Sholeh revealed that during the handshake, Prabowo told him to make his meatball business successful until now. “There were words of ‘success always’ (from Prabowo),” said Sholeh.
He also prayed that Prabowo could lead the country so that all parties would remain united.
“Mr. Prabowo, stay healthy and (hopefully) can lead this country to remain united in diversity, E Pluribus Unum,” he said.
In that location, not only Jokowi and Prabowo were present, but also several artists and 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 united, wearing plain white shirts. (SENOPATI)
