Retired hawker wins million-dollar condominium unit, Latest Singapore News - The New Paper
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Retired hawker wins million-dollar condominium unit

This article is more than 12 months old

When retired hawker Chow Meng Cheng spent about $3 on a bottle of aloe vera gel and a voucher for nasi lemak, he did not expect to win a one-bedroom condominium unit at Normanton Park, valued at $1 million.

The 70-year-old was the biggest winner of e-commerce platform Lazada's 11.11 giveaway, which announced its winners on Wednesday.

Held on Nov 11 every year, 11.11 is a multibillion-dollar global online sales event, where e-commerce companies organise contests to entice customers to use their platforms.

Last month, Lazada announced it would be giving out a condominium unit, which would be co-sponsored by real estate agency PropNex, in a lucky draw as part of 11.11.

To participate in the draw, shoppers had to collect golden keys by completing missions and playing a game on the Lazada app called Lazzie Star.

Some of the missions included referring a friend to Lazzie Star and purchasing the PropNex edition of Monopoly in the Lazada store. The more keys collected, the higher the chances of winning the condominium.

Mr Chow, who sold fish noodle soup for over 30 years to support his family of five, said he won five golden keys after he was introduced by his daughter to the game.

He said he was surprised to find out about his win.

"The good news... has not fully sunk in yet. Originally, I thought it was a scam... I have never been this lucky in my life," said Mr Chow.

He said he started shopping on Lazada in 2017 and had purchased more daily necessities online since the start of the pandemic, when seniors were encouraged to stay at home.

Mr Loh Wee Lee, chief executive of Lazada Singapore, said: "Our key focus was to support our sellers through this challenging year, and we are glad to see both our shoppers and sellers rewarded.

"With this year's 11.11 achieving record-breaking sales once again, we're glad to be able to showcase the possibilities that e-commerce brings in changing lives." - THE STRAITS TIMES

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