Magelang – Sholeh, the owner of a street food meatball stall in the Bandongan District, Magelang, received happiness. The reason is, 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 stopping place for Jokowi and Prabowo to eat meatballs together after attending the inauguration of Graha Utama at the Military Academy (Akmil) Magelang.
“Today, 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 a delighted Sholeh.
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.
Actually, he admitted that he had doubts about his ability to prepare hundreds of beef tendon meatball orders a day before Jokowi and Prabowo’s visit. In addition to preparing meatball dishes for the two of them, he also made 400 portions to be distributed for free to the residents.
“The day before, officers from the Presidential Security Detail (Paspampres) came to me personally and asked for permission for a state visit,” 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 everything can run smoothly now,” he continued.
Sholeh also told how his family was very happy to be able to take photos together 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 can shake hands with Prabowo too. Here’s the photo. Alhamdulillah, it’s really unexpected,” said Sholeh.
He assessed that Prabowo, whom he met for the first time in person, was very kind and friendly. “From my personal point of view, he’s good. Cannot be expressed in words. He even ate my meatballs himself,” he explained.
Sholeh revealed that during the handshake moment, Prabowo wished him success in his beef tendon meatball business that he had been pioneering until now. “There were words of always success (from Prabowo),” said Sholeh.
He also prayed for Prabowo to be able to lead this country so that all parties would continue to unite.
“May Mr. Prabowo always be healthy and able to lead this country to remain united in its diversity, Tunggal Ika,” 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 all appeared wearing plain white shirts. (SENOPATI)
