Stories from Citizens at the Palace Halalbihalal: Some Feel Like Queens and Hope for THR
President of the Republic of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto held a halalbihalal event with the public at the Palace complex in Jakarta on Saturday (21/03/2026).
Kompas.com observations at the location revealed thousands of citizens filling the central courtyard tent in shifts across several groups to celebrate Eid al-Fitr 1447 Hijriah.
“I’m so happy. This is the first time I’ve entered the Palace. Oh God. I never imagined I could come in here. And the food is delicious, and I feel like a queen here, like a king,” said Iba (48), one of the attendees at the event.
Iba admitted to being very impressed with the hospitality provided by the Palace, ranging from satay, siomay, bakso, lontong sayur, to various types of fruit ice.
Even though she had to queue for seven hours from 04.00 WIB to 11.00 WIB, Iba felt her efforts were fully rewarded.
Although there were instances of pushing in the queue line, she still felt grateful because her child also received a toy gift in the form of toy cars and trains.
Iba even packed some food to take home as a memento.
However, she slipped in a hope for additional sustenance next year when visiting the Palace.
“I hope next year I can enjoy something like this again. I can meet the President directly too. Hopefully the THR comes out,” she said with a laugh.
Expressions of gratitude also came from Cici (51), a visually impaired person who came all the way from Cilebut, West Java.
Cici attended accompanied by fellow visually impaired friends to realise her dream of meeting President Prabowo directly.
“So I want to shake hands directly, that’s what I want,” Cici revealed.
For Cici, the halalbihalal moment at the Palace was actually not something new.
This meeting became the first moment for Cici to engage in silaturahmi in the Palace environment during President Prabowo Subianto’s administration.
The extraordinary enthusiasm of the citizens demonstrates the closeness of the leader with his people on this day of victory.