Magelang – Sholeh, the owner of a five-foot meatball stall in the Bandongan District, Magelang, received great happiness. His merchandise was visited by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Defense Minister 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 Magelang Military Academy (Akmil).
“Today, on January 29, Alhamdulillah, my stall was visited by guests that I never expected, the President of Indonesia, Mr. Jokowi, and Mr. Prabowo were able to come to my stall in Bandongan,” Sholeh said gleefully.
Sholeh is very grateful that the event of eating together with both of them at his place went smoothly. According to him, Jokowi and Prabowo seemed to really enjoy his meatball dishes with the addition of fresh coconut water.
In fact, he admitted that he had doubted his ability to prepare hundreds of orders for meatballs a 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 public.
“The day before, the Presidential Security Detail from the central government came to me and asked for permission for a state visit,” Sholeh said.
“I asked myself if I could prepare it or not. Actually, I had doubts, but I had to be optimistic and strong. Turns out everything went smoothly,” he continued.
Sholeh also mentioned that 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 with Prabowo.
“We also got to shake hands with Mr. Prabowo. There’s a photo of it. Alhamdulillah, it was beyond my expectations,” said Sholeh.
He judged Prabowo, whom he met for the first time in person, as very kind and friendly. “From my personal experience, he is good. It cannot be expressed in words. He even ate my meatballs,” he explained.
Sholeh revealed that during the handshake moment, Prabowo told him that his venture of meatballs he started until now would continue to be successful. “He said ‘may you always succeed’ (from Prabowo),” said Sholeh.
He also prayed that Prabowo would be able to lead the country so that everyone would remain united in diversity.
“Mr. Prabowo, always be healthy and (hopefully) be able to lead this country to remain united in diversity,” he said.
At the location, not only Jokowi and Prabowo were present, but also several 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 matching plain white shirts. (SENOPATI)
