Two becak (pedicab) drivers, Blasius Haryadi and Abuanto, from Yogyakarta, Central Java, will pedal from Yogyakarta to Jakarta to raise money for the Joko "Jokowi" Widodo-Jusuf Kalla presidential campaign
wo becak (pedicab) drivers, Blasius Haryadi and Abuanto, fromYogyakarta, Central Java, will pedal from Yogyakarta to Jakarta to raise money for the Joko "Jokowi" Widodo-Jusuf Kallapresidential campaign.
Blasius and Abuanto departed from the Titik Nol (Point Zero) area in Yogyakarta on Friday and were seen off by deputy mayor Imam Priyono and several Jokowi-Kalla supporters. The 544-kilometer journey is predicted to take around 20 days.
"We are traveling from Yogyakarta to Jakarta by becak in order to raise money and also to listen to the people's aspirations along the way," Blasius, more commonly known as Harry Van Yogya, said before departing on Friday.
Harry, who uses social media to advertise his becak service, said that he supports the presidential ticket because Jokowi seemed unpretentious. Furthermore, Jokowi was able to solve the problems found in Surakarta, Central Java, and Jakarta while he was governor, he said.
"As members of the common people, we want to show real support for the Jokowi-Kalla pair -- not through a bank account but through our skill as becak drivers," he said.
Harry and Abuanto said they planned to solicit donations along the way to give to the presidential ticket after they had arrived in Jakarta.
Imam said that the long journey Harry and Abuanto had volunteered to take was proof that the general public supported Jokowi and Kalla.
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