So you might have heard something about a special visitor coming to Jakarta yesterday. Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdul Aziz arrived in the capital for a historic visit to Indonesia (the first for a Saudi King since 1970) Wednesday afternoon along with a huge entourage and an incredible amount of gear.
Selamat Datang Raja Salman. https://t.co/TjQL5jQmoY cc @KingSalman pic.twitter.com/y9dM7DbVnm
— Kementerian Agama RI (@Kemenag_RI) March 1, 2017
President Joko Widodo and numerous state leaders (including Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama) came out to give King Salman a royal welcome as he stepped off the plane before whisking the monarch off to the Bogor Presidential Palace for a reception and lunch.
It was a stately affair to be sure. But to give the king a truly Indonesian experience, President Jokowi decided to shoot the latest episode of his vlog, “Lunch Feast with King Salman” while the monarch ate next to him at the banquet.
“Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Currently I’m having lunch with His Majesty King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud. He is just eating,” Jokowi starts, panning the camera over to show King Salman enjoying his meal (with a golden spoon, of course).
Jokowi notes that he had met King Salman before. “At that time, I conveyed an invitation to His Majesty King Salman to pay a visit to Indonesia.”
“And this visit is in return for my visit to Saudi Arabia in 2015. The visit is also historic for being the first time in 47 years the King of Saudi Arabia has come to Indonesia,” he added.
Jokowi then asked King Salman to co-host his vlog, and the king was surprisingly cool about it. Speaking to the camera in Arabic, his words were translated by a member of Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“I am very happy today to be in Indonesia and happy with the Indonesian people. And now I am with His Excellency the President of Indonesia. And for us, the people of Indonesia are our brothers and sisters, and also a very noble people,” he said.
Jokowi smiled at the king’s words and said, “Thank you, Your Majesty, thank you. I hope this visit can enhance our good relations, between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and our country, Indonesia, have a mutually beneficial relationship.”
As of the time of writing, the vlog has been shared over 76,000 times on Facebook and many more times on other platforms. Netizen reaction was overwhelmingly positive, with the president once again showing that he’s just a regular guy who happens to hang out with other world leaders and is able to communicate in one of the few ways that young Indonesians can actually appreciate: vlogging.
