Magelang – Sholeh, the owner of a street food meatball stall in Bandongan District, Magelang, was very happy. This is because 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 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, Mr. Jokowi, and Mr. Prabowo who came to my stall in Bandongan,” said Sholeh happily.
Sholeh was very grateful that the meal with both of them at his place went smoothly. According to him, Jokowi and Prabowo seemed to really enjoy his meatball dishes with fresh coconut water.
Previously, he admitted that he had doubted his ability to prepare hundreds of meatball orders the day before Jokowi and Prabowo’s visit. In addition to preparing meatball dishes for both of them, he also made 400 portions to be distributed free to the residents.
“The day before, the Presidential Security Detail came to me and asked for permission for a state visit,” Sholeh explained.
“I asked myself, can I prepare it or not? Actually, I was hesitant, but I was optimistic that I had to be able and strong. It turns out that everything can go smoothly now,” he continued.
Sholeh also told that his family was very happy to be able 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.
“We were able to shake hands with Mr. Prabowo. Here’s the photo. Alhamdulillah, it’s very unexpected,” said Sholeh.
He assessed that Prabowo, whom he met directly for the first time, was very kind and friendly. “From my personal point of view, he is kind. It can’t be expressed in words. He even ate my meatballs himself,” he explained.
Sholeh revealed that during the handshake, Prabowo expressed his wish for the success of the meatball business that he has been building until now. “He said, ‘always succeed’ (from Prabowo),” Sholeh said.
He also prayed for Prabowo to be able to lead the country so that everyone can remain united.
“Mr. Prabowo, be healthy always and (hopefully) can lead this country to remain united in diversity, ‘Bhinneka Tunggal Ika’,” he said.
At the location, not only Jokowi and Prabowo were present, but also several celebrities and Instagram 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 all appeared wearing plain white shirts. (SENOPATI)