No Money for Eid

*No Money for Eid*

The first President of the Republic of Indonesia:
*Ir Soekarno* has a number of interesting stories before Eid.

Although he was a President, Bung Karno was apparently no different from ordinary people when facing Eid.

Ahead of Eid, the Proclaimer met the former Minister of Foreign Affairs DR. Roeslan Abdulgani to *find money.*

‘Cak, tilpuno Anang Thayib, kondo’o nek *aku gak duwe dhuwik,’* said Bung Karno…
(Cak, call Anang Thayib, tell him that I don’t have any money).

Anang is Roeslan’s nephew, living in Gresik, a businessman of the Kuda Mas brand peci (kopiyah) often worn by Soekarno.

*’Give me one of your used peci, I’ll auction it off,’* said Roeslan Abdulgani.

‘How much can it sell for, Cak..?’ asked Soekarno.

‘Wis ta laa, leave the matter to me.
The important thing is that it’s done,’ replied Roeslan.
(Never mind, just leave the matter to me as long as it’s done).

Roeslan then handed Anang a peci that was once worn by Soekarno.

Roeslan was surprised, it turned out that there were so many auction participants, all of them businessmen from Gresik and Surabaya.
But what really surprised him was that Anang was auctioning three peci.

‘Brothers and sisters,’ said Anang.
‘Actually, only one peci was once worn by Bung Karno.
But I don’t know anymore which one is the original one used by Bung Karno.
The important thing is are you sincere or not..?’

‘Sincere..!!!’ exclaimed the auction participants enthusiastically.

‘Alhamdulillah,’ replied Anang.

Bung Karno’s Zakat Fitrah.

In a short time, ten million rupiah was collected. (at that time, the value was very large).
All the money was immediately handed over by Anang to Roeslan.

‘Hey…asline lak siji se,’ said Roeslan.
(There’s only one original, right..?).

‘Yes…actually the other two peci are the ones I was going to give to Bung Karno,’ said Anang.

‘But why are those two peci ugly..??’

‘I made them ugly on purpose.
I spat on them, I wet them, I put oil on them, so they look worn,’ replied Anang.

‘You’re so rude, Nang Nang…you’ve tricked so many people.

‘You’re rude, Nang Nang…you’ve tricked so many people.’ Anang answered lightly.
(If it weren’t like that, how could you possibly get so much money?).

Roeslan then handed over all the money from the auction to Soekarno.

‘Cak, why did I make a mistake…??’ Bung Karno was shocked. (There’s so much money).

‘That’s Anang’s trick,’ explained Roeslan.
(It was all Anang’s trick).

Roeslan then told how Anang made a copy of the peci.

‘How rude Anang..!
Then what’s wrong with me or Anang..??’ asked Bung Karno.
(Then am I the one who’s guilty or Anang?).

‘Anang…’ was Roeslan’s short reply.

‘What are you going to do with that money, Bung..?’ asked Roeslan.
(What are you going to use that much money for, Bung..?).

*’To make my Zakat Fitrah…’*

‘Let’s all do this at Sunan Giri’s Tomb.
Dumno nang wong-wong melarat nok kono,’ said Bung Karno.
(For my Zakat Fitrah. Take all this money to the Tomb of Sunan Giri. Share it with the poor people there…..’ replied Soekarno).

This story is taken from the book Suka Duka Fatmawati Sukarno as told to *Kadjat Adrai.*👍🇮🇩🇮🇩🇮🇩

*_Just a reminder of the different standards of morality and integrity of leaders in the past and now and as a self-examination_* _Hopefully it is useful._

This story slipped into my WhatsApp on the night of Lailatul Qadar from a critical reader with a high sense of humor. Unfortunately I didn’t note the name of the sender of this writing.

Greetings and salute
Jacob Ereste
from Banten

Banten, March 21, 2025

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