This year’s million dollar winner of Singapore’s biggest shopping promotion at Changi Airport was named as Jakarta-based Ade Iskandar Roni yesterday, as he walked off with S$1m ($699,682) in cash ahead of seven other finalists in the draw held in Terminal 3.

 

Iskandar entered the competition after buying an Adidas t-shirt for S$50 ($35), which was the lowest-priced purchase among all of the eight finalists, and also the minimum spend required to participate in the Millionaire Draw.

 

1.2M LUCKY DRAW ENTRIES FROM 225 NATIONALITIES…

Iskandar faced competitors for the grand prize from Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates in an hour-long competition in front of a 300-strong audience.

 

Final victory was secured by Iskandar after passing through various heats when he was able to fit a giant travel adaptor into a socket on the podium after five attempts.

 

 

An emotional Iskandar said: “I’m still shocked, nervous and in disbelief, but incredibly happy. I can’t imagine how much money a million Singapore dollars will look like, how big a stack it will be.”

 

When asked how he would spend his windfall, he said with a big smile on his face, “I want to bring my entire extended family to the Holy Mecca for Umrah first. I haven’t thought about what else to do with the money, but I hope to buy a car for my family too.” Ade Iskandar added, “I’m going to visit Changi Airport every year from here on, and check in early to shop.”

 

MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO OVERALL CONCESSION SALES…

As pointed out many times before, the Changi Airport Group consistently holds this event up as a major contributor to its annual concession sales. This seventh year event apparently attracted ‘close to 1.2m’ lucky draw entries from 225 nationalities globally between 4 May to 31 October 2016, with the top three participant nationalities coming from Singapore, China and Indonesia.

 

Participating passengers and airport visitors needed to shop or dine at Changi Airport, with a minimum spend of S$50 ($35) in a single receipt, although the number of winning chances is designed to increase with the amount spent – for example, a S$500 ($350) spend translates into the shopper receiving 100 chances to win.

 

EIGHT FINALISTS PICKED THIS YEAR

Changi Airport Group management added: “For the first time in this promotion, an eighth finalist was picked from Platinum members of the Changi Rewards loyalty programme in addition to the introduction of a seventh finalist picked from iShopChangi shoppers in 2015.

 

“Both Changi Rewards Platinum card members and travellers who shopped on iShopChangi received double the chances of winning this year.

 

 

Apart from Mr Roni, the other finalists won S$5,000 ($3,500 ) in cash. All enjoyed a three-night hotel stay in Singapore, with return air fares provided for non-Singapore residents.

 

The Changi Airport Group adds that the eighth ‘Be a Changi Millionaire’ anchor shopping promotion will kick off once more this May.