Jokowi asks what is Corona, merchants: is it Satan, sir, everyone

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – President Joko Widodo distributed working capital assistance to small merchants at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, on Wednesday (9/30/2020).

Jokowi also asked a trader who was present at the Covid-19 event.

“I want to ask a moment first, if according to you, what is Covid-19? What is this corona virus?” Jokowi asked.

The middle-aged man named Kherudin answered briefly.

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“In my opinion, it’s the devil, sir. Satan, sir,” replied the man who trades in ketupat vegetables in Tanah Kusir, South Jakarta.

Hearing that answer, Jokowi also chuckled. The Head of State asked again.

“Haha, is that all?” Jokowi asked.

“Yes, that’s it,” said the merchant.

Jokowi also asked the merchant if there had been a decline in revenue during the Covid-19 pandemic. He also admitted that his daily turnover had decreased, from the usual Rs 300,000 to Rs 100,000.

YouTube Presidential Secretariat A vegetable ketupat merchant when invited to the Palace for working capital assistance from President Jokowi on Wednesday (9/30/2020).

Jokowi also asked merchants who were present to wait until the vaccine was available and things were back to normal.

Jokowi admitted that he knew exactly how difficult it was for entrepreneurs during the Covid-19 pandemic. Difficulties are not only experienced by small and micro entrepreneurs, but also by medium and large companies.

“Including the same countries. Not just Indonesia, but 215 countries are experiencing the same conditions,” Jokowi said.

In order to help microentrepreneurs affected by the pandemic, the government has also provided capital assistance of IDR 2.4 million.

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The microentrepreneurs present in the Palace received the aid directly in cash.

Meanwhile, millions of other microentrepreneurs also received this assistance by transferring directly to their accounts.

“We hope that with this additional working capital assistance, you can survive, don’t let anyone shut down,” Jokowi said.