Magelang – Sholeh, the owner of a street food meatball stall in the Bandongan District, Magelang, is feeling 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 the resting place for Jokowi and Prabowo to eat meatballs together after attending the inauguration of the Graha Utama at the Magelang Military Academy (Akmil).
“Today, on January 29th, Alhamdulillah, my stall was visited by unexpected guests, the President of Indonesia, Pak Jokowi, and Pak Prabowo, who came to my stall in Bandongan,” said Sholeh happily.
Sholeh is 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 meatballs with the addition of fresh coconut water.
Previously, he admitted doubting his ability to prepare hundreds of portions of meatballs a day before Jokowi and Prabowo’s visit. Apart from preparing the meatball dishes for both of them, he also made 400 portions to be distributed for free to the residents.
“The day before, the central Presidential Security Force (Paspampres) came to me and asked for permission for a state visit,” Sholeh said.
“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 run smoothly now,” he continued.
Sholeh also said that his family was very happy to take a photo 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 got to shake hands with Mr. Prabowo. Here’s the photo. Alhamdulillah, unexpectedly,” Sholeh said.
He assessed Prabowo’s figure, whom he met for the first time in person, as very kind and friendly. “From my personal point of view, he’s good. It can’t be expressed in words. He even ate my meatballs himself,” he explained.
During the handshake moment, Sholeh revealed that Prabowo wished that his meatball business, which he has been pioneering until now, would be even more successful. “He said, ‘always be successful,’ (from Prabowo),” Sholeh said.
He also prayed that Prabowo would be able to lead this country so that all parties would continue to be united.
“Mr. Prabowo, always be healthy and (hopefully) can lead this country to stay united in diversity,” he said.
At the location, not only Jokowi and Prabowo were present, but there were 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 all appeared in plain white shirts. (SENOPATI)
