Jakarta – An elementary school student in Gorontalo, North Sulawesi, saved a box of portions from the free nutritious food program to take home. This incident went viral on social media and was highlighted by netizens.
Quoted from Rasni Adam’s TikTok account, Tuesday (7/1), the moment was recorded when the students at the elementary school began to open the food box to enjoy, but there was one child who only saw the contents of the side dishes he got, then closed the food box again.
“Please eat, why don’t you want to eat?” asked the person in the video.
“I want to feed my mom,” the child replied.
“Why do you want to give mom?” asked the person in the video.
“Yes, there is no rice at home,” said the child.
“Really there is no rice? Masha Allah, Tabarakallah,” said the person in the video when he heard the child’s answer.
The video sparked discussion among netizens in the comments section. Some of them shared similar experiences from grandmothers and grandfathers, parents to themselves when they felt how difficult it was to get decent food.
“I cry every FYP. I remember going to school often on an empty stomach. The problem is, grandma hasn’t bought rice, then during the day I’m hungry, so I’m jastip friends to buy snacks so I can get snacks,” commented Nina’s account.
“Thank you Mr. Prabowo, there are still many hungry people out there, this free meal is very helpful,” wrote Biroh’s account.
“From the free meal program, we can indirectly record people who are really economically disadvantaged,” added alfaresaanggriawan.
MBG was implemented simultaneously in 190 points spread across 26 provinces on its inaugural day, January 6, 2025.
The government targets the MBG program to reach three million beneficiaries from January to March 2025, consisting of toddlers, santri, students of PAUD, kindergarten, elementary school, junior high school, high school, and pregnant women and nursing mothers.
The number will continue to grow until it reaches 15 million by the end of 2025. (RR)
