Magelang – Sholeh, the owner of a five-foot meatball stall in Bandongan District, Magelang, has received happiness. The reason is, his wares were visited by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto, on Monday (29/1) afternoon.
His five-foot stall became a stopover for Jokowi and Prabowo to eat meatballs together after attending the inauguration of Graha Utama at the Military Academy (Akmil) in Magelang.
“Today, January 29th, Alhamdulillah, my stall was visited by unexpected guests, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Mr. Jokowi, and Mr. Prabowo 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 oxtail meatball dish with the addition of fresh coconut water.
In fact, he admitted that he had doubted his ability to prepare hundreds of oxtail 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 of charge to the residents.
“The preparation the day before, the Presidential Security Detail (Paspampres) 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 was optimistic that I had to and I could do it. It turns out that everything went smoothly,” he continued.
Sholeh also told of his family’s joy at being able to take photos together with Jokowi and Prabowo. Moreover, he and his elementary school son were very happy to have the opportunity to shake hands directly with Prabowo.
“We also shook hands with Mr. Prabowo. This is the photo. Alhamdulillah, unexpected,” said Sholeh.
He considered Prabowo, whom he met for the first time in person, to be very kind and friendly. “From my personal perspective, he’s kind. It can’t be put into words. He can eat my meatballs himself,” he explained.
Sholeh revealed that during the handshake moment, Prabowo wished him success in his oxtail meatball business that he has been building until now. “There was a wish for everlasting success (from Prabowo),” said Sholeh.
He also prayed that Prabowo could lead this country so that all parties could remain united.
“Mr. Prabowo, always be healthy and (hopefully) can lead this nation to remain united in diversity, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika,” he expressed.
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)
