Prabowo's Open House Gifts: Nastar and Envelopes Filled with Cash
President Prabowo Subianto held an open house, or gelar griya, at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr 1447 Hijriah, Saturday, 21 March 2026. The Palace distributed Eid gifts to attendees.
Bambang, an online motorcycle taxi driver, revealed the contents of the gifts distributed as guests left the Palace. The gifts were in a dark blue bag. “There’s an umbrella, a tumbler, and nastar biscuits,” he said.
Inside, Bambang said, there was also a plain white envelope containing cash. “It contains nopek ceng (two hundred thousand),” said the man who lives in Mangga Besar, West Jakarta.
In addition to receiving the gifts, Bambang had the opportunity to sample various offerings at the Palace open house. He tried almost all the available dishes, from lontong sayur, siomay, chicken opor, rendang, Madura satay, Solo meatballs, to es teler and es campur.
The Palace prepared portions for around five thousand people. Bambang did not miss the chance to pack the food. He took home a full plastic bag of food and drink from the Palace offerings. Many other guests also took home food from the open house.
The open house at the Palace started around 1:30 p.m. WIB. Bambang recounted that he had been queuing at the gate of the State Secretariat Ministry, the entrance to the Palace complex, since 9:00 a.m. WIB. Before the gate opened, thousands of people were already waiting by the roadside.
In this year’s gelar griya, President Prabowo greeted the attending guests. The silaturahmi event took place in a large tent set up in the Palace grounds.
Prabowo arrived at the event space around 3:00 p.m. WIB, accompanied by his son, Didit Hediprasetyo. The Gerindra Party General Chairman toured and shook hands with the attendees.
However, not everyone managed to enter the Palace open house due to capacity limitations. Gilang Ramadan, a resident of Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta, failed to reach the silaturahmi area despite queuing from 12:30 p.m. WIB.
Gilang recounted that residents who could not join the open house were given essential food packages. The contents included sweetened condensed milk, a box of Monde biscuits, two packs of Kapal Api coffee, tea, one bottle of soy sauce and chilli sauce, a box of Energen, 5 kilograms of rice, and an umbrella. They also received one Hoka Hoka Bento lunch package.
Gilang, who is currently unemployed, said he initially did not know about the open house at the Palace. “By chance, I was sitting at the bus stop earlier, and someone told me. They said rather than doing nothing, better queue there (at the Palace),” he said.
Gilang said he would give the essential food package he received to his mother. “It’s helpful, now I can give something to my mum,” he said.